


Project Reboot

by grahamsteacup



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Android Gavin Reed, Android Gore (Detroit: Become Human), Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Angry Gavin Reed, Angst, Anti-Android Sentiments (Detroit: Become Human), Blood, Blood Loss, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Cigarettes, Damaged Biocomponents (Detroit: Become Human), Denial of Feelings, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, Homophobia, Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, M/M, Medication, Mutilation, Obsessive Behavior, One-Sided Relationship, Original Character(s), POV Third Person, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Pre-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), References to Depression, References to Drugs, Self-Indulgent, Slow Burn, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Strangers to Lovers, Temporary Character Death, Trans Gavin Reed, Trans Male Character, Unhealthy Relationships, reed900, reverse au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:49:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 52,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grahamsteacup/pseuds/grahamsteacup
Summary: “Project Reboot. Log number 001.” Nines’ hands trembled as he failed to keep the tape recorder from shaking in his hands.Digging around in a junkyard wasn’t a typical Thursday night for Nines but there he was. After living in Detroit for a few years Nines was running out of steam. His grandiose plans of running away from his small town at 18 to move to the big city hadn’t panned out exactly the way he’d hoped. He had a steady job, his own apartment, and a dog to keep him company but apart from that, life had lost that edge it used to have. Maybe that’s why he was now knee deep in scrapped parts and mud digging out a broken GV200 that he was immediately and inexplicably drawn to.AKA Nines finds a broken GV200 in a junkyard and slowly falls in love with him as he sets out to repair him.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 47
Kudos: 137





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Wanted to say really quickly that although I’m by no means new to fic writing (excuse me while I cringe at 11 year old me) it has been a few years since I have picked up the pen for creative means. So any constructive criticism and comments in general would be much appreciated (I sometimes feel like my writing is a little too straightforward especially having written nothing but essays for the last six or so years). Yes, I’m late on the DBH train but oh well I have had this idea in my head for like a month now and am finally putting it on paper! Also I know where I want this fic to go but like I said my creative writing muscles are a little out of shape so please forgive me for slow updates!  
> (tagged for what this story will eventually contain but tags will update as necessary)  
> (spoiler alert but if you are worried about the temporary character death tag, that only refers to Gavin/GV200. He does come back online and stays back online in future chapters)

CHAPTER 1

“Project Reboot. Log number 001.”

Nines’ hands trembled as he failed to keep the tape recorder from shaking in his hands. He internally praised whatever god might be out there that his parents were still self-proclaimed ‘old schoolers,’ and had some tapes lying around. If he recorded these by any digital means and it got leaked… well, he didn’t want to think about that.

“T-to be honest I didn’t think I’d make it this far.” His voice trembled and he closed his eyes shut in an attempt to keep his emotions at bay. “Honestly I don’t even know if I mean making it to the junk yard or to today,” Nines whispered into the receiver. He readjusted himself in his desk chair and winced as pain shot through his right shoulder. A sharp hiss escaped from behind his teeth and he shifted to lean his weight back to his left side. He took a moment to return his breathing back to normal before continuing.

“The model I selected is a GV200. All that remains of it are its head and torso. I… honestly don’t know why I didn’t choose a more complete model.” The thought brought Nines back to what he was doing nearly four hours ago.

The thought of driving outside Detroit to a more rural junkyard had set Nines’ nerves on edge. It certainly couldn’t be any more dangerous than a junkyard closer to the city but every time he was in a rural area he always took another glance over his shoulder. He grew up in a place very similar to where he was headed and once he turned eighteen he ran away and never looked back. Granted, Detroit was not exactly the fresh start he had hoped for – the lack of friends and activities outside of work kept him clutching to his antidepressants – but compared to his hometown, his experiences in Detroit were heaven. 

Nines parked a quarter mile away from the junkyard and grabbed his collapsible wagon out from the back seat. Nines was grateful for many of Cyberlife’s creations but, silly as it may be, this wagon was right up there with androids. It had come in clutch more times than he can remember. When folded up it was no bigger than a travel umbrella due to its lack of fabric and wheels. But once unfolded and activated, impenetrable light beams connected around the frame, comprising what would be the fabric. Then with another click of a button the levitation technology powered on and it hovered about half a foot off the ground, making it incredibly easy to maneuver and to haul heavy loads. 

Not wanting to give himself away, Nines kept the wagon folded as he walked the remaining distance to the junkyard. The sky had turned dark long ago but the junkyard was well illuminated by stadium lights. There was a large barbwire fence around the perimeter and there was only one entrance with a young man standing security. Nines weighed his options. It wouldn’t be that difficult for him to break in, he’d seen enough B&E crime scenes to know how to do it and how to do it without getting caught. The question was, would his skills as a detective translate into those of being a quiet criminal. On the other hand, he didn’t want to have to use his badge if he could help it – the less people that knew he came here, the better. But sizing up the security ‘guard’ Nines realized he couldn’t have been more than nineteen years old, not to mention it didn’t look like he had lifted a weight in his entire life. He knew kids like this, and if his hunch was correct he wouldn’t ask for a name or badge number. Nines mulled it over for a few more minutes before walking up to the security gate. 

As he approached the gate his superficial assumptions about the guard were confirmed. He wore headphones attached to his phone that his eyes did not leave for more than five seconds at a time, his feet were propped up on the counter, and it looked as if his eyes might droop shut any moment. Not to mention the hair covering his eyes brought Nines back to his angsty emo phase in middle school. 

Nines cleared his throat before saying, “Detroit Police Department. I’ve been sent to-” but before he could finish his sentence the kid moved to press a button on the terminal and waved him through. Still feeling a bit uncomfortable at how easy this was Nines just nodded at the boy appreciatively before walking through the opening metal gates.

Now that he was up close, the yard was much larger than he initially thought. From a distance it didn’t look to be any bigger than three or four football fields. But now that Nines was standing at the precipice he could have sworn it went on for miles. He could now see why the owner didn’t hire better security. Even if there was something valuable in the heaps of junk, it would take a miracle to get it out of there.

Tentatively, Nines took his first steps down the dirt path that led down the hill and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night. 

The first hill of stuff was comprised of mostly car parts: tires, engine pieces, whole doors, you name it. Nines’ eyebrows came together as a thought struck him. He squinted his eyes and brought a hand up to shade them as he looked at the junkyard’s sign through the bright lights. “Wally’s Junk, Est. 1998,” Nines read. Fantastic. Some of this garbage was forty years old. With a deep sigh Nines trenched through the mounds of clutter going towards the back where they undoubtedly dumped newer things. 

As he made the long trek towards the back of the junkyard, Nines thought back to what he had learned about Elijah Kamski over the years. He remembered hearing something in 2022 about this big breakthrough Cyberlife had made. He only remembered the year specifically because it was the year he went through his first really bad break up so he spent most of his time sulking and scrolling through the internet. At eighteen Nines went to the police academy and a few years later, after he showed immense talent for detective work, was transferred to his current precinct in Detroit. So at the time of the breakup he had only recently started at the DPD. At that point androids weren’t being used in the force yet and they weren’t in mainstream circulation either. Based on his memory, and when he could remember seeing more android crimes, he guessed androids and their various parts would have started showing up in junkyards around 2026 or so. 

“Great,” he mumbled to himself. “Twenty eight years of walking.” 

As he continued his journey he took notice of what types of things were being thrown away. It had started out primarily with car and other motor vehicle parts, old phones, TVs, radios, and things of that nature. But slowly as he walked his way through junk from the 2020’s things changed quickly and drastically. Things started looking more and more like they belonged in a cyberpunk film. He ignored it all until after half an hour of hiking through the uneven terrain, Nines stumbled across an arm that, if he didn’t know any better, would think it belonged to a mannequin. It was one arm in a pile of non-android garbage so he kept walking. 

It only took three more minutes to see the field littered with thousands of android parts. Nines has been to his fair share of gruesome crime scenes but something about the scene before him sent shivers down his spine. Androids were just machines but in the interactions he’s had with them Nines couldn’t deny his instincts to treat them like human beings. What really separates the two species besides what their parts are made of and a few lines of coding keeping androids in check? Nines knew enough about android coding to know the difference was slim. So to see disembodied android parts being tossed away as if they were worthless had Nines forcing himself from emptying the contents of his stomach. He thought back to the androids he had seen earlier that day: the receptionist at the DPD who he greeted with a smile every morning, the barista who worked at his favorite coffee shop, the caretaker he interviewed after his patient passed away… it was a lot for Nines to process as he gazed out at the seemingly endless carnage in front of him.

As his stomach started to settle and the façade he used at work began to shield his emotions he took a step forward but immediately regretted it. He hadn’t been paying too much attention to where he was walking as there was no way to avoid stepping on some piece of plastic or metal. But the hair raising crunch that came as he adjusted his weight forward set his teeth on edge and sent a jolt from his toes to his spine. The whole sensory experience brought him back to when he was young and would wiggle his loose tooth in its socket with his tongue. Nines refused to look down at whatever plastic limb he had trampled on and kept going. But his next step proved the same results as his last and he breathed a deep sigh. He pulled his earbuds out of his jacket pocket and plugged them into his phone. Opening his music he put the album American Boyfriend by Kevin Abstract on repeat and turned the music up just loud enough so he wouldn’t have to hear the crunching beneath his boots. Music was his last resort because he didn’t want to be rendered without his hearing in case he were to get caught – which he realized he was there legally but he still didn’t want anyone he knew potentially finding out he was there – but if he listened to any more of the grotesque noises coming from beneath his feet he might have a full blown panic attack. 

He pulled out his leather gloves from his jacket pocket and let the familiar tune of “Empty” fill his ears as he scoured through the parts surrounding him. This album had always been his go to comfort album after his first secret boyfriend in high school showed it to him. It honestly felt like the lyrics were being sung directly at him every time he listened to it on the bus on his way to school. Even now, over ten years later after first discovering the music, some of the lyrics still hit deep. 

With the music now bringing him a bit of calm, Nines rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Most of the parts around him were limbs that weren’t attached to a body because those were the most easily replaceable. It was finding a discarded head or torso that really took some digging. The first somewhat intact android he found was labeled as an EM400. He didn’t know much about this model’s functionality but considering it was the first one he found with only two missing limbs, he didn’t want to chance not finding one as complete as him. So he took out the frame of the collapsible wagon from his pocket and snapped the joints into place. With two quick clicks of a button the light barriers raised and the whole thing levitated some six inches off the ground. Now if only it could help lift the body. Nines was quite strong, in fact, most people at the DPD turned to him if they needed brains and muscle on a case. But no amount of lifting could prepare him for the sheer weight of a depowered android. When they were activated androids had the ability to somewhat control their weight. Their biocomponents including their muscles and skin could expand and contract on command, offering a lighter, more evenly dispersed weight. But when they shut down, all of their biocomponents seized up making them more dense and compact. Nines was finding out just how compact as he tried to lift the EM400 into the wagon. With a grunt Nines was able to hoist the android in with its one leg dangling off the edge. Out of breath, Nines decided that was good enough and began dragging him around much easier now that he was in the wagon. 

Nines kept walking, and searched for appendages he remembered being nearly universal, and threw them in with the EM400 as he continued his journey. He had collected three different arms and two legs when he saw him. Nines would have never noticed him if the stadium light hadn’t reflected off the hood of a car and shined directly in his eyes. He shielded his vision with his right arm, forcing him to look down near his left foot. And mere inches away from where he stood, trapped under the weight of a sheet of metal, was the most gorgeous face he had ever seen. If the other half that was hidden behind the metal was as beautiful as the one currently under his gaze, Nines might just pass out right then and there. 

Throwing the miscellaneous things that were piled on top of him aside, Nines didn’t care that he was getting his clothes – that he had somehow managed to keep nearly pristine up until this point – filthy with mud and grime. As he worked, Nines couldn’t help but notice how the sheet of metal was cutting into the android perfectly across the bridge of his nose. Nines winced at the sight. Once everything else was off of him, Nines moved to grip the metal. Upon closer inspection it was clear that the metal had cut deep beneath his synthetic skin and was crushing the plastic chassis underneath. Tugging on the metal further confirmed this and Nines winced again when he gingerly lifted the metal and the poor android’s face moved up with it. Nines gently lowered it so the android’s head landed softly back down. With a deep breath he knew what he had to do and grit his teeth at the thought. One more deep breath and Nines’ foot was at the android’s neck as both his glove clad hands firmly gripped the metal. Keeping the android down under his weight he yanked the sheet of metal as hard as he could, again bringing him back to his childhood teeth pulling days. With the resistance against his foot, Nines was able to yank the metal out of the android’s face. In the process he could have sworn he heard a noise come out of the android’s voice box, but that was impossible in his condition. Regardless, Nines took it as a good sign. He didn’t realize how heavy his breathing had become until he saw it fog the metal sheet now in front of him. With a few more stabilizing breaths, he was able to return his gaze to the android to assess the damage. 

Nines had to hold back a gasp as he looked down at the android, that he could now see was labeled as a GV200. His face was the first thing he noticed. Besides the deep gash on the bridge of his nose there were no other wounds blemishing his face which was somehow even more handsome – if that was even possible – now that he could see him in full view. But seeing as Nines was prepared for that injury, it wasn’t what nearly made him gasp in fright. What was left of him below the neck was horrifying. He had no limbs but that was something he’d already seen a few times that night. No, it was his torso, on the other hand, that was absolutely devastating. Blue blood spilled from his chest as two deep and clearly intentional knife wounds slashed their way under his pectorals. Another injury, although this one appeared to have come from the force of a blunt object, was visible on both sides of his ribs, creating a symmetrical pattern of bruising. At the point of impact in the center of these bruises the skin had peeled back revealing the shattered white chassis beneath. There were other various bruises and knife wounds that weren’t nearly as bad as the other injuries but they added to the grotesque scene in front of him all the same. Nines scoffed in disgust as his eyes traveled further down his body. Whatever sick fuck did this to him decided to attach a phallic genital component that was clearly not made for this model. At first glance it might not look out of place but the ‘stitching’ – if that’s even what one could call this hack job – looked like it was done in a way that was only intended to inflict pain. In other circumstances, Nines wouldn’t care either way if an android wanted to upgrade to genital components. Hell, he didn’t care what components they got either. No, it was the way in which this android clearly got the upgrades that made Nines stomach churn.

But the worst of it all was the panel above his thirium pump had been torn off, exposing a mangled mess of wires and components beneath. The wiring itself didn’t look unnatural – as unnatural as could be for an android – but the color running through them and throughout his exposed thirium pump made Nines’ own veins run cold. There were clear patches of red surrounded by patches of purple frozen in his, surprisingly unshattered, thirium pump. The coloring extended into most of the wiring and tubing protruding from the pump and it perplexed Nines in a way that made his stomach turn. He remembered reading about android delineation during his time at the academy and the text specifically mentioned that androids were not to possess any red within their biocomponents. Everything had to be blue in order to differentiate them from human suspects and/or victims. So why was there red within the inner workings of this android?

Not wanting to dwell too much on the subject, Nines got to work. He immediately removed the EM400 from his wagon without a second thought. Somewhere in the back of Nines’ mind he questioned why he was removing this more assembled android for one whose inner workings could be irreparable for all he knew. But a louder part of his mind was screaming that he needed to repair this GV200, no matter the cost. So he hoisted the EM400 with all his might and dropped him off as gracefully and respectfully as he could amongst the rubble. He felt guilty, like he should give the android he was originally going to repair some sort of funeral. But Nines knew it was a bit ridiculous to think that way seeing as it wouldn’t make a difference. But had he the time and resources he would try to give every android in here a proper burial. At the same time he hoped he would never have to do that for the GV200 that he was now gingerly hoisting into the wagon. With two fewer limbs than the EM400, GV200 was much easier to maneuver into the wagon. He watched with great care as he adjusted his posture so his neck didn’t look so strained. It was a silly thing to do considering the android would not feel anything in this state, but even seeing his face – a face he felt this primal need in his gut to protect for whatever reason – in what would be a painful position was enough to make Nines’ chest ache. He couldn’t bear to see him in pain even if he couldn’t feel it, and for that reason Nines wasted no more time looking for parts. He threw a few more arms and legs in with the GV200, not caring whether they would be a match or not. With how damaged he was, Nines hoped to use some of them for spare plastic. 

It took Nines exactly twenty eight minutes to return to the entrance, according to his watch, an exactly five minute improvement from his original hike out. Before approaching the security gate, Nines draped the blanket from the side of the wagon over top its contents, hoping the same boy was on duty and cared about him the exact same amount as he did before: not at all. His luck held out and when he approached the gate the boy barely looked up before waving him back through. Nines nodded appreciatively and started the trek back to his car. 

Nines knew his luck was almost too good to be true when halfway through the walk, the skies opened out of nowhere, drenching Nines and his precious cargo. He had already resigned himself to avoiding the main street and maneuvering through the dense forest surrounding it, but now as his feet started sinking into the mud, he had no choice but to walk in plain sight. He reached under the jacket he wore to find the black hoodie underneath. Pulling up the hood, he drew the strings tight hoping no one driving by would be able to see his face. He was by no means in a populated area, but considering he was alone with a heavy wagon with his hood up walking along an old back road, anyone who happened to pass by might get paranoid and call the police, or even worse stop and try to help him. 

Although Nines was not typically afraid of storms, the thunder and lightning made his pulse and stride quicken. His car was finally in sight and Nines pace was almost up to a jog now. It would have been a full on sprint if his cargo wasn’t so heavy and the wagon so awkward to maneuver behind him. Just as he thought he was in the clear, now only a few yards away from the trunk of his car, his foot slipped on a loose patch of gravel, sending him, along with the contents of the wagon tumbling into the ditch beside the road. Pain shot up his right shoulder as his body finally stopped and settled into the mud. He cursed under his breath but quickly held it as he heard the sound of wheels against wet pavement pass him. He laid there still, forcing himself to endure the pain of the position he fell in, as he waited until the car drove out of sight for certain. After a minute Nines finally stood and rotated his shoulder, sending a sharp hiss from behind his teeth. He cursed under his breath again as he looked over at what he had worked so hard to get strewn about in the mud. His breath hitched when he saw GV200 face down in the mud.

Without a second thought Nines ran over to him and gently flipped him over. He breathed out the biggest sigh of relief as he looked at the undamaged thirium pump. Pieces of plastic in and around his bruising had broken off or cracked further but so long as his head and thirium pump were unharmed, he could – hopefully – piece the android back together. 

Although GV200 seemed relatively unharmed from the fall, Nines’ wagon was not. One of the metal joints snapped in half under the weight of GV200 and caused the light barriers to fall as well as the levitation mechanism to turn off. Now it was just another scrap of metal. As if Nines hadn’t just spend hours of his life sifting through similar junk. With a heavy sigh Nines looked over to where his car rested. He looked back and forth between GV200 and the car hesitantly. Any sane person might go start the car and pull up to where the android parts now rested in the ditch. Realistically, any sane person would be in their home at this time of night, resting peacefully and avoiding the storm. But the second Nines stepped out of his apartment to start this journey, he accepted that he left his sanity at the door. 

The thought of leaving GV200 alone in the ditch where anything could happen in the few minutes it would take him to move the car didn’t sit well with him. He scratched at the back of his neck for a moment before deciding that it wasn’t that far of a hike to drag the GV200 with him, so that’s exactly what he did. Without any limbs to hold onto, it was difficult at first for Nines’ hands to find any traction on his damaged torso. He settled on using the holes where his arms were missing to drag him to the car. This method seemed to do the least damage and was the least disrespectful in Nines’ eyes. It was either that or dragging him by the hair or the neck and with the android unresponsive, Nines couldn’t do that in good conscious.

Slowly and methodically, Nines took his time inching closer and closer to the car. Only once did he have to duck in the ditch for a car to pass by, and they were driving so fast Nines wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t even notice his car on the side of the road. Eventually they made it. Nines shoulder was screaming in pain but he ignored it in favor of unlocking the car and hoisting Gavin… no… GV200 into the backseat. After cursing through the pain shooting up his shoulder he managed to hoist GV200 flat on his back across the backseat. He buckled him in awkwardly for good measure before getting in the driver’s seat, starting the car, and reversing until he reached the area where the other limbs had fallen in the ditch. He quickly scrambled up what remained on the side of the road and threw them in the trunk before getting back in the car and driving away quickly.

Now that he had a long, quiet drive on the way back to his apartment, Nines could finally think. “What the actual fuck am I doing?” Nines whispered to himself as he glanced at GV200 in the rearview mirror. Realizing that if he let himself think about it for too long he would bail on his plan entirely, he cranked the radio on to his favorite station and let the music drown out any thoughts. Every now and then he would glance back at GV200 to make sure he was ok and it made his heart flutter awkwardly. Whether it was out of fear of what he was doing or something else, Nines couldn’t say. But what he did know is that if he were unaware of the gruesome damage to his body and the fact that GV200 was, for all intents and purposes, dead, Nines would be jealous of how peaceful he looked resting in the backseat. It brought Nines back to his childhood before his relationship with his parents had gone to shit. He remembered trips to his grandparents’ house and driving the two hour trip back home late at night, so that when he woke up he had magically teleported from the backseat of the car to his bedroom. Nines usually never let himself dwell on memories of his past, good or bad, but for once, after all the stress he had just gone through, he allowed himself to be filled up with good memories.

Unsurprisingly he ran out of good memories to replay in his head by the time he pulled into the parking lot for his apartment building. After cutting the radio and turning off the car, Nines sat quietly and rested his head against the steering wheel as he let the soft sound of rain hitting his roof calm him down. He glanced a look back at GV200 from under his arm to make sure he was still there, and of course there he was, as real as ever. Nines sighed and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. The stress of the day suddenly made it feel like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Rubbing his face to wake himself up, he sat up with a determination to complete his mission despite the exhaustion that was seeping into his bones. He opened the door and headed to his building’s back door.

Before he had set off on his mission, Nines had prepared a large box he had received a plant in in the mail and placed it near the garbage bins. He had set up a dolly with it as well and was now wheeling it over to the backseat of his car. It wasn’t unusual for the other tenants to see Nines lugging around huge boxes. In fact, it was well known that Nines kept his apartment like a mini greenhouse, frequently ordering large plants online to add to his collection. Tonight would appear to be no different from any other time, and if all went to plan, no one would bother asking him about it. 

He grimaced now at what his plan entailed for GV200. He by no means planned on getting so attached to whatever android body he had fished out of the junkyard that night, but here he was, humanizing a machine to the point that his heart ached for the damaged being. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered as he began lowering GV200 into the box. “I promise you won’t be in here for long. This is for your own good.” With that Nines haphazardly taped the box back up and rested it on the dolly. He locked his car and started walking toward his building when he looked back at the trunk of his car, remembering the extra limbs that rested there. Assuming they’d be safe locked in there for the night and it would be highly unlikely for that to be the thing Nines got caught for, he settled for retrieving them in the morning before he left for work. Nines groaned at the idea of having to go into work the next day given that he was supposed to be awake in approximately three hours but he shook the thought away to focus on getting GV200 into his apartment unnoticed. Nines knew no one should be roaming the halls of his apartment building at this hour, but it didn’t stop him from stressing over it.

After punching in the code at the door, Nines gingerly dragged the dolly through and closed the door again as quietly as he could. He quickly maneuvered his way through the hallway to the elevator, moving the dolly with ease after having so much practice with plants. Waiting for the elevator to reach him was agony, he just hoped he wouldn’t have to see anyone exit it.

His fear came true as the elevator dinged and one of his neighbors stepped through.

“Hey, Nines? What’re you doing up so late?” Ben asked, eyeing up the dolly. How could he have forgotten about Ben, the maintenance worker whose shift started at 3:30 AM?

Nines face shaded a deep pink as he tried to remember the excuse he had rehearsed earlier. After everything he had gone through and the exhaustion clouding his mind, Nines gave up trying to remember and spewed out the first bullshit line to come to his lips.

“Storm woke me up. Realized I left a plant outside that shouldn’t be. Had to run and rescue it.”

Ben gave him a quizzical look but then simply shrugged and with a chuckle said, “Yeah, sure. So long as you’re not hiding a dead body in there.” He laughed and patted his shoulder – causing Nines to bite his tongue from groaning out in pain – before leaving him to get on the elevator. Nines just chuckled and responded with a quiet “Yeah,” before entering the elevator. When he was finally alone again he let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Typically it was straight and slicked back but the rain caused it to curl and fall in his face. Nines didn’t even try to tame it and eventually let it rest on his forehead. 

The next thing Nines knew the elevator was beeping and he was rolling GV200 into his apartment. After locking the door behind him, Nines took a deep breath. He did it. He could practically cry, whether from happiness, pain, or distress he couldn’t tell, but at least what he hoped was the hardest part of the entire project, was now complete. 

Quickly, Nines opened the box and sat GV200 down on the chair next to his desk. He sat down on the other chair nearby and booted up the computer. The week before he had ‘borrowed’ some of the extra android power cables kept at the station and now each end was plugged into GV200 and Nines’ computer. After charging the android up for a few minutes without powering him on, Nines was able to look through some of his core code. It was hard to read as a bunch of ‘Software Instability’ warnings kept popping up, but Nines ignored them to see if he could still be operational. He held his breath as he searched for what he was looking for. The data was complicated but from what Nines could make out all components were nonoperational but could be repaired. Nines grinned and looked over to the resting GV200. He was going to do it. He was going to fix this broken android and give it a second chance at life. 

Nines picked up his recorder and started speaking into it, starting the official journaling of the process. He zoned out for a minute recalling everything that had just happened when a daunting feeling settled into his stomach. He had so much more work to do. After realizing how long of a pause he left in the recording, he continued. “My name is Richard ‘Nines’ Stern and this is day one of Project Reboot. My mission: to restore GV200.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know when you come up with an idea for a fic but it’s just one scene so you have to write the rest of the fic around that one scene? Well if all goes according to plan, chapter 2 is mostly that scene for me :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so the scene I wrote this whole fic around and mentioned in the notes at the end of the first chapter ended up being super long and I had to break it up into two chapters. The end of this chapter and most, if not all, of next chapter (if I don’t get too sidetracked lol) are those scenes! Enjoy!  
> (also, no big tws in this chapter i don't think? but i did add a few tags if you want to check just in case)

CHAPTER 2

“Jesus, you look like shit, Stern.”

Nines rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms and could only grunt in response. It had been a long, long time since Nines had felt this shitty. Probably not since he stopped going out to clubs to get way too drunk for a weeknight and finding random hookups every other night. Oh to be 21 again. 

“Long night. Don’t wanna talk about it,” Nines halfheartedly glared at Tina before taking another sip of his coffee. This was cup number three and he had just sat down at his desk fifteen minutes ago. 

“Alright, alright. But if I need backup, I’m calling Chris. I don’t think I trust you to even use a stapler properly in this state,” Tina said with a chuckle and sipped on her own coffee as well. Tina was the one shining light in this office. They were by no means close friends – outside of the office they didn’t have very many similar interests and had never hung out together – but Nines would take having an office buddy any day. 

They sat together in silence at Nines’ desk and did some people watching as everyone slowly trickled in for their shifts. Tina set down her mug and had a sly grin on her face when she turned to Nines.

“Have you seen the new android yet?”

Nines eyes nearly popped out of his head and he choked momentarily on his coffee. Any mention of androids immediately had his nerves on edge. It’s not like what he did last night was technically illegal but the whole ordeal rested in a moral grey area that would be questionable for a detective. 

Tina didn’t even bat an eye at him as Nines composed himself. She probably thought he was just exhausted, which wasn’t entirely false.

“No. Are they here?” he asked and glanced around the precinct. It was hard to tell which androids were new and which had been here for a long time. They all wore the same uniforms and since most of them were in the same model line there were sets of twins, even triplets walking around at any given time. But as he scanned the room his eyes caught on something he’d never seen in the bullpen before. His eyes were first drawn to the bright blue Cyberlife triangle but that was nothing he hadn’t seen before. It was the dark grey jacket it was stitched onto that threw him off. He could only see the back of the android’s head from this angle but he already somehow looked familiar.

Nines looked to Tina then nodded his head towards the newcomer. She nodded. “Apparently shipped him in last night.” It looked like she had more to say but she suddenly became hyper focused on the coffee in her mug.

“Tina,” Nines said in warning.

“Nines?” she asked looking anywhere but at Nines.

“What’s going on?”

Tina hesitated for a moment, then sighed. She glanced back over at the android then back to Nines before saying, “Go talk to him. But don’t get mad, it’s not his fault.” Nines raised a brow at that but didn’t question her further. He used what little energy his third cup gave him to stand up and walk over to Hank’s desk where the new android stood. Hank’s eyes caught his own when he was no more than a few feet away from his desk. His eyes widened and it looked like he was about to say something but Nines beat him to it.

“Is this the new rookie I’ve been hearing about?” he asked and slapped the shoulder of the new android. The RK800, according to his jacket, turned and looked at Nines with deep brown eyes. Suddenly Nines knew exactly why he looked familiar from a distance. It was like looking into a fucking mirror. Granted the RK800 was quite a bit smaller and overall more wiry than Nines but the face was almost exactly the same. Save for the cut of his jaw and the color of his eyes, Nines would swear Cyberlife had cloned him in his sleep. Hell for all he knew they could have scanned him in broad daylight and he would never know.

Heat rose from the back of Nines neck and spread up to his forehead. He wasn’t sure if it was the three cups of coffee, the anger, or a combination of both that now had his hands trembling at his sides. 

“Nines, meet Connor. Connor, Ni-” but before Hank could finish his sentence Nines was already walking up the steps to Fowler’s office. The captain looked up upon Nines’ entrance and sighed deeply. Of course he would be expecting Nines.

“Look we didn’t think they were gonna-”

“I don’t care what you think,” Nines spat his usual monotone. He was never one to raise his voice as he oftentimes found the composed fury method to be most intimidating. “All I care about is when that thing is leaving.”

Fowler’s eyebrows crinkled at that. “But I thought you liked androids?”

“That,” Nines hissed, “is not an android. That is a fucking clone. I want it gone. Now.”

Fowler sat back in his seat for a moment and shifted his hands to lean his head back against them. “What? Is this place not big enough for the two of you?” he mocked.

“Not. Funny.” Nines interjected the second Fowler finished his sentence. He could feel the shaking in his hands start to creep its way up his arms. Nines tried to hide it but Fowler didn’t become captain without having some excellent observation skills. 

He tensed from his relaxed position and leaned over the desk, motioning for Nines to sit down. When Nines merely crossed his arms over his chest Fowler sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Listen. I don’t like it either. If anything it makes the both of you more liable and plus it’s just damn confusing,” Fowler began. Nines nostrils flared and he clenched his fists. If Fowler didn’t like it either then who the fuck approved this?

“I’m not going to lie to you. They told us they were monitoring people in the bullpen to put the final touches on the new detective model’s social protocols. They sent us an original design and believe me it looked nothing like you.”

Nines raised a brow and asked, “Can I at least see what the earlier model looked like?” Fowler raised a brow right back but then shrugged.

“Sure, what harm can it do?” he muttered more to himself than to Nines but proceeded to search through his computer. He waved Nines over when he found what he was looking for and Nines almost collapsed at what he was seeing. There was. No. Fucking. Way. This was a GV200. Upon further investigation Nines was technically correct: this was in fact a GV300, an upgraded model. It didn’t look exactly like the GV200 but the changes were subtle in the same way the changes between Nines and the RK800 were subtle. Nines had to take a step back, firstly because of course the model he chose at the junkyard was a detective model, and secondly because he shocked himself at noticing such minute changes between the two models when he had just seen a GV200 for the first time last night. 

“Are you alright?” Fowler asked, snapping Nines out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, I-” Nines stammered, “I just need some air.” Before Fowler could spew more of his apologetic bullshit, Nines was out of his office and making a beeline for his desk. He avoided Hank and RK800, Connor, whatever the fuck, like the damn plague before reaching his desk and finding his old box of cigarettes buried beneath a large stack of paperwork in the bottom drawer. As he fished for the cigarettes he saw Tina out of the corner of his eye cautiously approaching him. When he finally had a hold of the box he straightened up before closing the drawer.

“Not now, Tina,” he muttered as politely as he could in the bitter state he was in, and pushed past whoever came in his way to get to the back door of the DPD.

Letting the crisp spring air hit his nose was a welcome reprieve, but not as welcome as the toxins he was about to inhale instead. He quickly fumbled for a cigarette and placed it to his lips when he cursed around it. It had been so long since he smoked he somehow forgot one of the most essential pieces of the process. He put the cigarette carefully back in the box and crossed his arms over his chest. He had too much pride to go back in looking for his lighter so he stood there inhaling the fresh air as his lungs ached for a release that would never come. 

He heard the door behind him open and he was halfway turned around to tell Tina that he really wasn’t in the mood to talk when the face he was greeted with instead made his mouth clamp shut.

“Looking for this?” Connor asked nonchalantly enough, holding Nines’ signature white lighter out for him. 

Nines eyes widened for two seconds before they squinted in disgust. “Stay the fuck out of my stuff,” he hissed before snatching the lighter out of the android’s hand. He turned his back on the RK800 to light his cigarette hoping that’d be the end of it. But apparently this model was persistent as he moved to stand on the same step as Nines. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the LED on his temple swirl a bright red and then back to blue in an instant.

“If my memory serves me, detective, my model’s appearance was designed with your likeness in mind. On behalf of Cyberlife and myself, I’d like to thank you,” he said in an innocent tone.

Nines rolled his eyes as his cigarette lit and he took the first drag. “Sure,” he mumbled around the cigarette. He put the lighter in his pocket and looked up, refusing to look in the android’s direction. Honestly, he wasn’t certain he wouldn’t get nauseous at the sight of his doppelganger. 

“You know, according to many urban legends, a white lighter like the one you’re using is bad luck. Maybe you should-”

“Maybe you should shut the fuck up,” Nines hissed, finally looking in the android’s direction. He scoffed in disgust. He hoped to whatever god that he never look as disgustingly innocent as Connor looked in that moment. The android’s big brown doe eyes widened even further and his LED settled on a steady yellow.

“I am sorry if what I said bothered or offended you, detective. I am still learning how to be a social being. But, I believe I would work more effectively if we had a good working relationship, and-”

“Look, you wanna have a ‘working relationship,’” Nines motioned his fingers in air quotes as he said the words. “Maybe try staying out of my fucking business.”

Connor paused, and whatever expression he made Nines couldn’t decipher it. After taking another drag of his cigarette he saw his LED change from yellow to blue. “Would it improve our working relationship if I left you alone, detective?”

“Yes,” he sighed giving Connor a genuine look.

“Noted,” Connor said robotically in a way that made the hairs along Nines’ spine stand up straight. 

“Oh, and by the way, detective.”

“Hm?”

“You might want to be more careful when filing evidence next time. There are traces of thirium, or blue blood as you call it, on the cuffs of your sleeves.” As Nines stood there scrambling with his shirt, Connor did an about face and went back into the DPD.

No matter how hard Nines looked he couldn’t see a spec of blue on his sleeves. He knew the substance evaporated over time, and if the RK800 was designed for detective work, then he could probably still see the traces. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he might have said that just to mess with him. Shaking his head he brought the cigarette back to his lips and took another drag. The adrenaline rush from the anxiety of interacting with his clone was starting to wear off and the exhaustion from the night before found its way to the front of Nines’ mind. Finishing his cigarette he climbed the steps back into the office and accepted the fact that it was going to be a very long day.

Coming home from work that evening did nothing to help his exhaustion either. Typically, at the end of a shift, whether he had just done paperwork all day – as was the case today – or if he was out in the field, the drive home always helped him decompress. But going home that night only brought him more stress. After recording his log the previous night he barely had the energy to get a shower let alone start helping the android he had set out to rebuild. Three hours later when he woke up for work, all he had time to do was throw the spare parts from the trunk of his car into a duffle bag and take them up to his apartment before heading to the station. While last night was physically the most taxing part of the project, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the rebuild. He didn’t think he could find a more mutilated android in that whole junkyard even if he tried, so he was prepared for the extra work the physical repairs would require, but the software was where he was weakest. He had taken programming courses in high school and later after graduating from the police academy had taught himself more about android coding to better prepare himself for interacting with androids in the field. But this state of the art tech he was working with was way out of his league. He just hoped whoever did the damage to GV200’s chassis left his brain alone. 

Nines checked the time before stepping out of his car: 6:30 PM. He wasted no time going into his building and waiting for the elevator. These past few weekends had been particularly hot with criminal activity as the weather was just barely starting to get warmer. He just hoped that he didn’t have to get called out into the field tonight. 

“How’s it going, Nines?”

Nines jumped at the hand that was now placed on his shoulder. He looked up at the man who scared him and sighed in relief when it was just Ben. Ben had moved in down the hall from him a few months ago and already knew his neighbors better than Nines did, even after living in the same building for the past few years. He had introduced himself to Nines the day he moved in and ever since then would go out of his way to talk to Nines if he saw him around. He apparently had a roommate but whoever they were never introduced themself to Nines and he’d never run into him in the hall. The only reason Nines was sure his roommate even existed was because he had quickly seen them enter a room in their apartment one night when Nines had helped Ben back to bed after drunkenly mistaking Nine’s apartment for his own. Ben never seemed embarrassed from the interaction and secretly Nines wished he could swap with him to get rid of his own anxious demeanor. 

“Fuck, you mean besides the heart attack I just had?” Nines chuckled and looked up at Ben. If people thought Nines was tall, then Ben would be a giant. Based on his own height, Nines would guess he must be at least 6’4”. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. To be fair you’re more skittish than most,” Ben said and pat his shoulder again. It took Nines a second to realize he hadn’t taken his hand off his shoulder since they started talking, but Nines was so touch starved he honestly didn’t care. 

“And too be fair you’re more of a giant than most,” Nines said with a small smile. 

Ben matched his smile and chuckled through a, “Fair enough.” He paused for a moment and Nines could feel a hint of tension break his cool façade. 

“Got any big Friday night plans? No, actually wait, don’t tell me. Spending the evening with your plant babies?” Ben asked teasingly. 

Nines felt an involuntary blush rise to his cheeks and mentally cursed his body for the reaction. “Actually, yes. How’d you know?” Nines said through a nervous chuckle. 

Ben grinned down at him and said, “Ah, just a hunch.” He looked like he was going to say something else when the elevator finally dinged and opened in front of them. Ben motioned with his arms as if to say ‘after you,’ which made Nines’ blush hotter as he entered the elevator. Ben followed quickly behind and punched in the button for their floor. They stood in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a moment before Ben spoke up.

“That’s good and all, and I’m certain that your babies need you. But, if you want, a few of my buddies and I are going to Jimmy’s in a couple hours if you wanna join?” 

For the first time, as Nines looked up at Ben, he saw a shy expression cross his face. It felt wrong on his face, like Nines was seeing something he wasn’t supposed to. 

Realizing Ben was waiting for an answer, Nines stumbled on his words, “Um, I’m flattered, really I am. But, um… tonight’s not really a good night. Didn’t get much sleep last night, hard day at work. You get it,” he let his inflection pitch up at the end making it more of a question. 

The cool demeanor fell back onto Ben’s face and he gave him a smile. “No worries.” He paused. “Can I maybe get a rain check for another time, then?” 

Nines bit his bottom lip. He’d been single for so long and hadn’t been putting himself out there much that he didn’t really know how to interact in these situations anymore. Ben was nice, sure, but he didn’t know much about him, and he’d probably run for the hills if he got to know Nines. But why was he overanalyzing this simple offer of drinks. It didn’t have to mean anything if Nines didn’t want it to, and having the company would be nice. 

“Sure, that’d be great,” Nines said with a shy smile. Ben’s only grew wider as the elevator opened to their floor.

“Cool. I’ll see you around, Nines,” he said and pat him on the shoulder again. Nines didn’t need to be a detective to know the lingering gesture was far from unintentional. As Ben turned to the left to find his apartment, Nines turned right out of the elevator to find his. 

As Nines fumbled with his keys to unlock his apartment he tried forcing the blush out of his cheeks. It didn’t take much effort once he remembered what was waiting in store for him beyond the door. With a deep breath Nines opened the door. Luckily his big fluff ball of a husky came trotting up to greet him. It made much of his nerves go away but not entirely. 

“Hey there, Scout,” he said and pet behind her ears. She barked once before spinning around in a circle. “Alright, alright,” Nines said with a chuckle and made a beeline for the kitchen. He reached in the cabinet under the sink and pulled out her kibble. She was practically dancing behind him as he bent over and poured out the food. “Eat up,” and without further ado, Scout pounced on her food bowl like she hadn’t eaten in a week. Nines rolled his eyes and set out to feed his plant babies as well before getting himself his own dinner. After watering the twenty-something plants scattered in his apartment, he settled on leftover sesame chicken he made the other night and sat down to eat after heating it up. From his seat at the kitchen table he could see the door to his bedroom and had to force himself to focus on his food. Just glancing at the door, and knowing what waited for him behind it, set his nerves on edge. 

“You got yourself into this, remember,” he muttered to himself between bites. He didn’t know exactly why he was even nervous. He hadn’t done anything illegal and it wasn’t like anyone would find out about the GV200 sitting in his bedroom anyways. Maybe what was eating him from the inside out was the fear of failure. He couldn’t fail this android, he just couldn’t. He let the thought fill him with determination instead, even if it didn’t entirely replace his fear. But he let that determination guide him quickly through his bedroom door after he finished his dinner, and closed it behind him so Scout couldn’t interfere. 

Sitting across the room near the window sat the GV200. Nines silently thanked his past self for putting a thin blanket over the android so that he could brace himself before viewing the carnage. He pulled up his desk chair to the table he sat on and slowly removed the sheet. GV200 looked as terrible as ever except at least now the thirium had evaporated. 

Nines sighed and placed a hand on what remained of his shoulder. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he whispered before getting up to go get supplies from the bathroom. Coming back into the room he brought a small bucket full of warm water, a plastic cup, soap, a washcloth, a towel, two new toothbrushes, and a pair of tweezers. He would have given him a proper bath in the tub if his biocomponents weren’t so exposed, so for now this would have to do. Looking at the grime on the GV200 himself, Nines doubted if he’d be able to get to any real repairs that night. 

Sitting back down at his seat next to the makeshift operating bed, Nines didn’t know where to start. He wet the washcloth and pumped a bit of soap on it and started to scrub his body. He had no idea how long he had been trapped in that junkyard but based on the thick layer of mud caked onto his skin, Nines guessed it had to have been at least more than a year. He scrubbed as gently as he could but with enough pressure to actually get the grime off. He sat Gavin… GV200 – he’d have to check if he had a registered name soon – up so he could rub his back where there were fewer injuries. Twice before he could finish there he had to change out the water in the bucket and thoroughly rinse out the washcloth as well. When his back was as clean as he could get it, Nines took the towel and dabbed away what water remained. Now that he could actually see the android’s skin without the mud, Nines found himself appreciating the moles that scattered his back right below his neck and the muscles hidden underneath synthetic skin. Nines suddenly became aware of his own thoughts and he didn’t know who to be more disgusted at: himself for checking out an android that was essentially dead, or at Cyberlife for making every android ever created stunningly beautiful. Not that Nines found Gavin stunningly beautiful – how could he even make a judgement when they haven’t even met really – he just… Nines decided to stop while he was ahead. 

When his back was sufficiently dry, Nines laid GV200 down on his back and looked at cleaning his front amidst all of the open wounds. He started along the sides and any large areas he could find that weren’t close to an open wound. Knowing that his model was made for detective work, most of his components and wiring were probably waterproof but Nines didn’t want to take any chances. Not to mention water probably already got into his components from his time out in the junkyard, but if that was somehow causing him any pain or further damage, Nines didn’t want to make it any worse. 

Saving the face for last he went ahead and started working on the wounds. He started with the identical gashes along either side of his ribcage with one of the new toothbrushes. Grabbing a dry washcloth he held it over the wound and took the soapy brush to the skin just outside the wound. The brush did a surprisingly good job and Nines found himself quickly moving on to the wounds themselves. He then carefully took the tweezers and pulled out loose pieces of plastic that had broken off of his chassis and tried to set them down in the same pattern they had fallen off in, on his desk. He would eventually try to use them to make a new plate for over his wounds. 

Slowly and methodically he worked his way through the wounds taking out tiny piece after tiny piece of plastic until his watch read 9:43 PM. Nines groaned and sat back in his chair, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his palm. As he let himself relax for a few minutes a tiny seed of doubt planted itself in the back of his mind. Why was he doing this? Of all the androids to choose why him? This is pathetic. Though difficult, he forced himself to push those thoughts away. He needed to step back just for a few moments. 

He draped the sheet back over Gavin – fuck – GV200 and made sure he would be uncompromised in his absence before opening his bedroom door. He chuckled as he found Scout sleeping at the entrance. Upon hearing him she turned her head to look in his direction and wagged her tail, making a loud thumping noise against the hardwood. “Hey there, silly,” he said and reached down to scratch behind her ears. She yawned and flopped down on her side, looking ever so innocently up at Nines. He rolled his eyes but obliged her request and gave her a quick belly rub. When he stopped to step around her she whined loudly. “We can cuddle in a little bit,” he called back to her from the front door. His jacket hung on the back of it and he searched the pockets to find the cigarettes he had found in his desk earlier. He had quit smoking for almost three months before he caved today. All that hard work down the drain, and from experience, he knew that when he broke down he broke hard. If he was lucky he’d only have to buy one new pack tomorrow. 

Along with the cigarette, Nines remembered to grab his lighter from the kitchen drawer on his way out to the balcony. A shiver went down his spine as he remembered his interaction with the RK800 earlier and tried not to dwell on the memory. Before he could shut the sliding glass door, Scout was nudging at him to let her outside with him. He rolled his eyes and sighed around a “Fine,” before letting her through the door. She trotted out before him before he leaned against the railing of the balcony and lit his cigarette. Scout curled into a ball at his feet and for a moment he actually felt peaceful, that is, until intrusive thoughts started eating away at him. 

Nines had been avoiding the question posed to himself for weeks when he decided to take on this project. He knew exactly why he was doing this even if he didn’t want to admit it. Plain and simple: he was lonely. Bantering with Tina at the office and solving cases got him through the day well enough, but coming home to an empty apartment, save for Scout, had been crushing him the last three years. Maybe it was the anxiety, maybe it was the lack of desire to meet people at parties anymore, or maybe it was just damn difficult to meet people as an adult. Nines had tried on several occasions but it never happened the way it did in the movies. Nines knew better than to have those expectations but even the lowered expectations he had given for meeting people weren’t met. No one wanted to hang out anymore, it was just ‘let’s get drunk and dance or hook up’ and never ‘hey, I want to get to know you as a person.’ Nines was sick of it. He was sick of people. Maybe he just had to wait for the right person, but dammit he was sick of waiting. He thought about going out and buying an android for himself but dropping eight grand on an android right now just wasn’t in the budget, let alone the shame and embarrassment from having that purchase on his paper trail. In the end that’s why he found Gavin. He was simply lonely.

He looked to his right down the row of balconies and was surprised to see not too many of them in use for a Friday night. Granted, everyone was probably on their way to meet friends at the bars right now. He wondered if Ben was already at the bar. If he caught a cab right now he could probably still meet him at Jimmy’s before it was too late. A funny thought occurred to him then: maybe Ben was the guy he was waiting for. Maybe this was a sign from the universe saying, “Here’s your man, you imbecile, stop looking past what’s right in front of you.” Ben was nice enough but after he drunkenly mistook Nines’ apartment for his own, did Nines really think he could be any different from the people he had already tried to make connections with? He shook his head and took another drag of his cigarette before looking up at the sky to see what few stars he could beyond the city lights. He didn’t have it in him to dwell on Ben right now. At the very least he would wait for that rain check. 

Sighing, he put out what was left of his cigarette on the railing. He checked his watch and what felt like five minutes of overthinking ended up actually being about thirty. With his free hand he reached down and patted Scout. “Hey, girl. Let’s go inside before either of us catches a cold, alright?” Scout whined but did as she was told. Nines discarded the cigarette in the ashtray resting on the little table outside before opening the door to let Scout go in.

Walking back into the apartment, he felt a tiny bit better. Whether it was from the nicotine or finally acknowledging some of his thoughts, he was unsure. Regardless, he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he went back into his bedroom to proceed cleaning up the GV200. 

He rolled up his sleeves and pulled back the sheet covering the android. It was incredible what the makeshift bath did for him. He still looked terrible, don’t get him wrong, but without the thick layer of grime covering his skin it was starting to look like there was hope for him after all. 

Without the proper sealing tools Nines couldn’t do much more for the injuries across his body which finally forced him to deal with the android’s face. He had been avoiding it for last because every time he looked at him he could feel heat rise to his cheeks and his thoughts became scrambled. But now, facing no other options, Nines began cleaning up those handsome features. 

Starting on the path of least resistance, Nines began with his hair, finding it the least intimidating. He set the water bucket on the floor just below the edge of the table, and shimmied Gavin… GV200 towards the end so that the only thing keeping his head from dangling off the edge was Nines’ surprisingly steady hand. Holding the back of GV200’s head in one hand, he used the other to pour water over his hair and attempted to get most of the water back in the bucket on the floor. 

The methodical task of running his hands and water through the android’s hair over and over again seemed to put Nines in a trance. It was a similar feeling to driving on autopilot where the lines on the road could cause somebody to zone out for hours. Before he knew it Nines’ head was slowly leaning forward and his eyelids got heavier as GV200’s hair got softer. He gasped and sat up in fright as he felt something wet touch his forehead. Without realizing it, Nines had started to doze off and nearly fell asleep had his head not drooped down so low that it rested against Gavin’s. Wiping the water off his forehead, he could feel an intense heat burn his cheeks; if only he could wipe that away too. At least the android wasn’t awake. If he had been, well, Nines didn’t think he’d ever be able to live it down. But then again, he might not let him clean him up like this in the first place. Nines shook the thought from his head, convincing himself that he was helping the android as he rinsed out the last bit of soap from his hair. 

If that’s how he responded to simply washing GV200’s hair, Nines was going to be extra cautious when cleaning his face. He started the process the same way he did with the body: he scrubbed at the larger areas like his cheeks and forehead then took his time around the damaged and more sensitive areas. When he reached the large gash along his nose Nines winced. Gavin was lucky that nothing else had landed on the sheet of metal that had cut into his face. Looking at the damage now, Nines could tell that if the metal had cut any deeper into his chassis, vital wiring could have been damaged. That’s why he took great care now as he used the tweezers to extract any loose plastic. Knowing that was all he could do for him at the moment, Nines put the tweezers away and resigned himself to cleaning up the last of the dirt from around his eyes.

Looking at the android now, Nines realized he didn’t even know what color eyes this android had. As he gently wiped away the mud that had caked his eyelids shut, Nines got more excited at the prospect of seeing those eyes. It was such a little detail, but a lot could be said about a person from their eyes, at least from Nines’ experience that was the case. Remembering that the android was essentially dead, Nines had to prepare himself that seeing GV200’s eyes would probably not be the experience he hoped for. There would not be light nor life in those eyes yet. They would be but two windows that open to a sky shadowed in mystery. 

After removing the last of the mud and thoroughly preparing himself, he tenderly lifted back his eyelids. Nines could only describe what stared back at him the same way he described the rest of the GV200: beautiful. Grey irises that trapped subtle shades of blue and green within them, practically illuminated the room. If Gavin was like this at his worst Nines could only imagine how he responded with a little life in him. He couldn’t help it, but as he looked into the android’s eyes he couldn’t help compare the shade to his own. Nines eyes were an icy, cold blue that rarely wavered. Although Gavin’s greys were similar to his own in some ways, they held something deeper. The subtle blue shading the outside and the green hues surrounding the pupils gave them an earthy feel, while the grey reminded him of his own. It was fascinating to Nines in a way that he felt like he could study them for hours upon hours, taking diligent notes, and at the end of it be able to write a textbook just on the irises of an android’s eyes. 

…was he ok?

The simple answer was no, and Nines knew that going into it. But sometimes he even shocked himself. What kind of person thinks this way about an android? Granted, would Nines be having these same doubts if Gavin… GV200 was human? Is his behavior bordering obsessive? Finding it too late for an existential crisis, Nines gently shut the android’s eyes to let him sleep peacefully before cleaning up his workspace. 

It felt weird to Nines to have GV200 rest on his makeshift operating table in his bedroom, so he did what he did the other night and moved him to the couch in the living room. Scout sniffed frantically at the android, but Nines never let her linger for more than a couple seconds before he led her back in his bedroom so they could turn in for the night. After changing into a shirt and sweatpants, Nines patted the area on his bed next to him, and Scout followed her usual routine of falling asleep curled up next to him. The giant husky took up most of the bed, but Nines didn’t mind. As he himself drifted off to sleep, a kaleidoscope of greys, greens, and blues, swirled around in his head before sleep finally overtook him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I write a lot of description and not a lot of dialogue but that’s because the story so far is mostly one sided. Mayhaps that changes next chapter…


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a liiiiiittle sidetracked this chapter and it’s slow at some points but it has a purpose I promise and the end of this chapter is worth it! Also, sorry for the longer wait this time, but this chapter is quite a bit longer (nearly double what I tend to write) so I hope that makes up for it! 
> 
> ALSO thank you all so much for your kudos and kind comments! I honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to read this. I’ve also been working through this chapter so much that I can no longer tell if it’s good or not so comments are much appreciated lol.
> 
> As far as warnings go I updated the tags but it’s nothing too different from what the first two chapters already have.

CHAPTER 3

A soft whine and a wet nose to the cheek had Nines waking up earlier than he’d anticipated.

“Alright, alright,” he said as he tried to shake off that early morning fog from his brain. Scout was nuzzled up next to him and now that she heard him stirring awake her energy level shot up by about eighty percent. Nines went to scratch behind her ears but his hand only got halfway there before she was zooming around the small confines of the bed. 

“Fuck, give me like a second to breathe here, then I’ll get you some breakfast,” Nines chuckled as he got up. He took his time to stretch out the muscles in his back before opening his bedroom door to let Scout zoom about in the living room. Before he could make it to the bathroom to brush his teeth and make himself look somewhat presentable, he heard Scout whine even louder from the other room. He stopped in the doorway and was about to tell her to wait just a few more minutes when the sight in front of him stopped him dead in his tracks. He had forgotten that GV200 was resting on the couch and didn’t think twice about it before letting Scout out of his bedroom. Scout was by no means an aggressive dog, but she was very excitable and with the condition Gavin was in he didn’t want her to get too close. As he stared, paralyzed by the fear that GV200 could possibly be damaged further, his fears started to melt away as he continued to watch. Scout was sniffing all around his hair and gave a gentle push against his cheek with her snout. When he didn’t respond she whined and started licking his face. When he still didn’t respond, she whined one more time and rested her head on the couch cushion next to him, and in her own way tried to provide a small spot of comfort. 

Nines unglued himself from his place in the doorway and walked slowly over to Scout. She looked scared, and Nines couldn’t blame her. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Nines cooed and gently stroked her head as he kneeled down to be level with her. She didn’t move but looked up at him with those classic puppy dog eyes. “He’s… not alright, but he will be. I promise,” he whispered, to which Scout nuzzled against Nines and he pet her soothingly. “Now, it’s breakfast time. So, are yooooou… hungry?” Saying the magic word, ‘hungry,’ Scout turned from the concerned, protective guard dog into a spry young puppy again. She ran over to her food bowl in the kitchen and Nines chuckled as she twirled in a tight circle as she was unable to contain her excitement. 

Nines stood and glanced down at the resting GV200. He almost looked peaceful in a way that made Nines concerned that he was becoming too desensitized to the open wounds scattered across his body. Maybe it was the grogginess still in his system from his interrupted sleep that made his thoughts go out the window, but without realizing it, Nines hand had reached down to gently push back the strand of hair that had fallen into Gavin’s face, and was running his hand through the now clean and soft locks. Scout’s whining at her food bowl shook the last bits of the sleepy haze from his brain and he stopped what he was doing immediately. He knew it was irrational to not want his dog to see the blush on his cheeks, but there he was doing just that. He quickly maneuvered through the kitchen to get Scout her breakfast and a granola bar for himself before running back into his bedroom to get ready for the day.

As he finished getting ready by throwing on a plain blue t-shirt, he glanced over at his desk and saw his recorder sitting next to his keyboard. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. He was so focused on his task the night before that he completely forgot to log his progress. He’d get to it in a moment. For now he needed to bring GV200 back to the operating table. Although Nines was used to the weight of the android by now, bringing him back into his bedroom was a bit trickier this time with Scout now finding him the most interesting thing in the apartment. She sniffed at him as Nines carried him into the room and he had to shoo her out before he could even think about getting any work done. 

He sat down at his desk near Gavin’s head and picked up the recorder.

“Project Reboot. Log 002. This is Nines Stern recording my progress for phase one of repairs.” Nines then spoke into the recorder everything he did to help the GV200 last night. He tried not to leave out any details but after all he was only human and his memory could have easily let go of a few details without him knowing. When he was done relaying the night’s events into the recorder he pulled out a piece of paper he kept tucked away in his desk drawer. Written in his usual tidy handwriting was a short list of prompts to help him talk through the process. After realizing he pretty much already responded to the first prompt he glanced to the second: any challenges faced along the way, and possible solutions?

“With my limited skillset the coding will be a challenge but I’ll get to those specifics if and when I get there. But as for physical challenges, there is more here than I had initially accounted for.” He glanced over to Gavin’s body resting on the table. Even with his lower half covered with a sheet, Nines couldn’t avoid seeing a few injuries. “There are a few minor cuts and bruises here and there that pose no threat. The main damage is in the chassis itself and along the skin. I’ll just use the… shit,” Nines quietly cursed as he realized with his current toolset he couldn’t do anything more for the android. He had meant to smuggle out some tools from the DPD’s android infirmary but he was so exhausted on Friday that he forgot. He’d have to go back after he finished his recording and make up some bullshit excuse that he forgot something there. Returning his attention back to the recorder, he continued.

“Once I’m done recording this I will have to return to the station to gather a few tools. I will need something to fuse the chassis back together as well as something to stitch the skin. But that is not my main concern,” Nines trailed off as his eyes trailed to the exposed thirium pump. Nines had been avoiding the red and blue mixture in the wiring and tubing because he honestly was unsure what to do. He knew how to reinstall a thirium pump since a DPD android had it ripped out by a criminal they were hunting down a few months ago. In theory he could take out GV200’s thirium pump and inspect whatever the red substance was. The only issue was what to do after he identified it.

“My main concern at the moment is this red substance that seems to be mixed in with his thirium. Based on the fact that it is localized to the immediate wires and tubes around the thirium pump as well as the pump itself, it would suggest that whatever this is was injected first into the thirium pump and then congealed in the tubes, thus stopping its spread.” Nines gulped and became too aware of his own body as he thought about how that could happen in a human. 

“To put it simply – problem: unidentified red substance in thiriump pump and immediate area. Possible solution…” Nines trailed off a bit not wanting to think about the very real possibility. “Possible solution: remove thirium pump and drain it along with its tubing. No tools besides a wrench and screwdriver should be required. But, I would need an extra supply of thirium to replace what was lost.” He thought back to the few times he had found himself in the android infirmary over the last couple of years since androids began working in the force. Thirium was one of the most commonly needed materials in repairing the androids there, so he doubted he would have to go anywhere else to find it. 

“I will hopefully be picking up a supply of thirium when I go to the office later along with the other tools I need,” he said into the recorder. Not being able to think of any more challenges that might get in his way once he had the proper supplies, he looked to the third and final prompt on his list: emotional response. 

Nines pinched the bridge of his nose upon seeing the words. He knew he needed to record his own feelings during the course of this project since half of its purpose was to help improve Nines’ mental wellbeing, but talking out loud was incredibly difficult for him. He grew up in a household that never talked about mental health or emotions at all. His parents wanted to have this pristine family that spent quality time together at picnics and went to church every Sunday. So it was no surprise to Nines that when he tried to go to therapy for the first time after moving away from home that it didn’t do much for him. He was always told that he would only get out of it what he put into it, but he didn’t think he was ready to put that much of his mental capacity into it yet. So he stopped going. Now, looking at the recorder in his hand, it brought him back to those anxiety inducing sessions that he still wasn’t sure he was ready to face. 

He paused the recording and set the small plastic box down on the edge of his desk. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out what to say. That was the thing about emotions, there was no black and white answer. The first two prompts were clear cut and had clear solutions. Emotions, on the other hand, had no right or wrong answer which made Nines’ brain hurt just thinking about it. Maybe that’s why he always liked math and science over art and English in school. 

Sitting back in his chair, Nines looked over at Gavin and huffed quietly. What must it be like for an android to simply follow programming. Life would be so much easier if everyone had their set things to do and say and think. But then again that wouldn’t really be living after all. In some ways Nines envied him, in others not so much. But he didn’t really care about that so much as he cared about getting this android on his feet as soon as possible. To do that, he needed to get this stupid part of the log out of the way. An idea came into his head then, and if he were an android he was sure his LED would be spinning a bright yellow by now. He leaned forward and pressed record on the device but kept it on the desk. He then turned his body to be angled more towards GV200.

Nines cleared his throat before he began the last part of his log. “Um,” he began. Wow, what a great start. “The last prompt I’ve given myself for these logs is to talk about how I’m, uh, feeling emotionally about this whole process.” Nines paused but then realized the gesture was frivolous. If he were talking to a human or an alive android, he would pause to gauge their reaction or wait for some response. But the android that rested on the table was unable to make a judgement or give any feedback like in a normal conversation. Surprisingly, that calmed the detective a bit. Without a captive audience he was just thinking out loud. Maybe talking to this sleeping android would actually help him this time. 

“It’s funny because here I am nervous to talk about my feelings about this whole thing, and yet here you are already calming those nerves and you’re not even awake yet,” Nines chuckled then frowned. “But, with that said, I do have some doubts, some concerns. I’ve only known this android for, what, two days? And from the second I saw him I instantly began humanizing him. Gave him a name too without even thinking about it. Gavin. Guess GV looked like Gavin so my brain just rolled with it. I kinda hope he doesn’t have a registered name and doesn’t mind Gavin because honestly I’m not sure if I can see him as anything but a Gavin anymore.” He chuckled an empty laugh at the thought before continuing. “Now not to get all psychoanalytical on myself but I don’t know if that means I’m desperate for some sort of real connection here or if it is something that as a human I am naturally made to do. But I think for the time being, it’s ok to not know which it is,” he confessed.

“I, uh, I don’t know how to say this, but, um, ever since the junkyard… I’ve felt this connection. It’s kind of scary to be honest, it feels stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before.” At that Nines had to look away from the sleeping android. Confessing this all to him while he was unconscious – wait, could he even truly be conscious? – felt unfair to him. But he needed to keep going for the log, so he continued.

“I feel… this need to protect him. Like something bad might happen to me if something bad happens to him. Which is ridiculous because – fuck, I mean just look at him – something bad has already happened to him.” Nines shook his head in disgust and could feel the heat of anger curl up his spine. “Now, I don’t know if he’s anything more than a machine, hell, I don’t know if any android can be anything more than their basic programming. Regardless, someone who can do this sort of thing to another being – sentient or not – oughta pay… Fuck, I just… I wish I could go back and stop this from ever happening to him…” he trailed off and looked back up to the android. He surprised himself when he found his vision slightly blurry and he had to blink his eyes a few times to make the saline retreat. He took a deep breath before ending the log by saying, “Well, that’s enough sappy bullshit for me for a lifetime. My name is Richard ‘Nines’ Stern and today is technically day three of Project Reboot. Here’s hoping I’ll get better at this log thing.” 

He turned off the recorder and sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. Nines got more out of that five minute talk session with a dead android and a tape recorder than he ever did with an actual licensed therapist. But hey, if it worked for some people, then more power to them. This just happened to work better for Nines.

Running a hand through his curls that he had not bothered taming that morning, he stood up and tidied up his desk a bit. He walked over to the bedroom door and squeezed through the small opening he allowed himself as to not let Scout – who was waiting ever so patiently for him – into the room with Gavin. He made sure she had enough water in her bowl then grabbed his jacket and messenger bag before leaving for the DPD. Luckily as he went down the elevator and walked to his car he didn’t run into anyone. Not even Ben who always seemed to be in the halls. Nines hadn’t been that emotionally vulnerable in a long time and he didn’t know what he might say if he saw someone, especially someone who had clearly been hitting on him for a while, after recording that log. But driving always helped to clear his head, and even though the drive to the office was short, Nines hoped it would still do the trick. 

As he pulled up to the DPD, Nines felt relief wash over him as the drive did exactly what he hoped it would, and sealed up his emotional vulnerability nicely. Nines was grateful for it as he stepped out of his car and realized exactly what he’d have to do to get what he needed: lie. He always hated lying. What was the point? It only ever caused trouble. But in this case, when his android’s wellbeing was on the line, he needed to suck it up for his sake. 

Walking into the station he greeted the receptionist who smiled at him.

“Hello, Richard. You weren’t expected to come into work today,” she said politely.

“Yeah, I left some paperwork here the other night and wanted to get a head start on some cases I’ve gotta tackle this week. That’s all,” he said. She smiled and nodded, then proceeded to buzz him in.

Walking through the gates to the bullpen he received some odd looks but no one seemed to really care or pay him that much attention. Work was one of the few things Nines had left, so it wasn’t a huge surprise for the other officers to see him at the station even when he wasn’t scheduled. 

Still wanting to avoid other officers, Nines made his way to his desk quickly and quietly. He had come up with the act on his way to the office: go to his desk, rummage around like he was looking for something, act like he couldn’t find it, go to the infirmary and get the supplies, then leave acting like he found exactly what he needed. Technically it wasn’t a lie because he would be finding something he forgot about during the week, but it was still in that moral grey area that Nines didn’t like. 

When he got to his desk he slung the strap of his bag on the back of his chair and began looking through the drawers intently.

“You know you’re not getting paid overtime for… whatever you’re doing?”

Nines nearly hit his head on the underside of his desk as the gruff voice of Captain Fowler spooked him. Maybe Ben was right, Nines was more skittish than most. 

“Yeah, I know. I just forgot a bit of paperwork. I don’t have any big plans this weekend so I wanted to get a head start for this week,” Nines said as nonchalantly as he could while his heart was racing a mile a minute. He stopped his rummaging to look up at Fowler to see if he bought the lie. It must have worked on him because he simply gave Nines a shrug.

“Ok then. Carry on,” he stated simply and walked back towards his own office. Nines breathed out a small sigh of relief as he rummaged through the drawers for another minute or two to make the act look believable. He then stood up with a mock look of confusion on his face and closed the drawer. He stood with his hands on his hips as if deep in thought before throwing his bag over his shoulder and making his way to the infirmary. 

So far no one was looking at him suspiciously and besides Fowler no one had approached him. Maybe he could pull this off after all. All he had to do now was get the supplies he needed and get out. However, that was easier said than done.

Nines turned down the hall away from the evidence room and opened the door to the infirmary. He practically leapt out of his skin because the first thing he saw was his doppelganger staring back at him. A technician was working on his left arm and seemed to be wrapping up whatever she was doing. Upon hearing Nines enter she looked up at him and chuckled at his reaction.

“Doesn’t get any easier seeing a clone of yourself, huh?” she asked warmly.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Nines said with a forced chuckle. He kept his composure but internally his panic levels were sky high. With Connor here there was no way he would be able to get what he needed without him asking questions. He’d know what Nines was up to in a second.

“Do you need help with something?” she asked and faced him fully now as she wiped her hands on a towel. Connor leaned to look around her and raised an eyebrow at Nines. 

“Um,” Nines stumbled. “I was just looking for some paperwork. I think I might have left it here the other day.”

The technician didn’t seem phased by the answer as she checked her watch with wide eyes. “Gosh is that what time it is already?” she gasped and started cleaning up her station and gathering her personal belongings. “Sorry, I’d stay and help but I have a training with Cyberlife engineers that I’m supposed to be at in,” she cursed quietly under her breath then and Nines wondered if she actually thought she was being quiet about it, “seven minutes. But good luck finding it!” She ran out the door then before Nines could say thank you. He watched the door close behind her and when he turned back around an unamused RK800 was staring back at him.

“Paperwork? In the android infirmary?” he asked quizzically.

“Yes,” Nines stated simply as he began to search around the counters for paperwork that didn’t exist.

“You’re lying.”

Nines froze then turned to look at the android.

“And what makes you say that?” But before he could answer, Nines could already hear the answer pounding in his ears.

“Simple. Your heartrate increased at the rate of an extra five beats per minute when you answered,” Connor said and stalked over to Nines. Although Nines was physically bigger than Connor, in that moment, as the android sauntered over to him, it made him feel two feet tall. “Care to tell me what you’re really doing here?”

Nines gulped, and not knowing what to do, instinctively stuck firm to his lie. “Your heartrate monitor must be broken. I am here to find my paperwork, that’s all.”

At this point Connor’s nose was only a few inches away from his own as he stared him in the eyes looking for something that Nines probably wouldn’t understand. When he apparently found what he was looking for he said in a low monotone, “I know what you’re doing.”

The look of conviction on Connor’s face had Nines taking a step back into the counter. If it was some manipulative android investigation method that was programmed into him Nines surely fell for it. He wasn’t a good liar and had never really been put into a situation like this before. As the panic from that realization settled into his brain he spat out the first thing that came to his mouth. In a whisper he said, “How do you know?”

Connor seemed taken aback for a moment seemingly surprised at receiving the confession. The look on Connor’s face switched from an expression of conviction to one of conflict so fast it nearly gave Nines whiplash. It shocked him to see the android so openly conflicted. If he didn’t know better he might think the android was deviant.

After a moment of the conflict playing out on Connor’s face, he settled a determined gaze on Nines. But his words didn’t match his expression as he softly said with concern laced in every word, “Just be careful.” Before Nines could process what Connor had just said, he was walking briskly out of the infirmary murmuring something that Nines swore sounded like ‘software instability.’ Nines shook his head and closed his mouth he didn’t realize had been open for god knows how long. But he didn’t give himself time to think as he realized he was finally alone in the infirmary. He’d think about what Connor had said later on his drive home.

Nines quickly began searching through cabinets looking for thirium and synthetic binding tools. He easily found the tools as he saw where the technician put them away and put two in his bag just in case one was uncharged or faulty. But finding the thirium was a little tougher. After spending five minutes rummaging through cupboard after cupboard he saw a mini fridge tucked away in the back of the room. He mentally chastised himself for forgetting that it was stored in cool temperatures. That was android repairs 101, but it had been so long since he had read up on the basics in the beginning of his career. He grabbed as many pouches that could fit into his bag and hoped that it would be enough. He checked his watch after he found everything and it only took him seven minutes to find everything he needed. Before leaving the infirmary he put the papers that were already in his bag on top of his supplies so that in case he got stopped he would have a quick alibi. He settled his racing heartbeat a bit from the fear of getting caught before opening the doors and heading back out into the bullpen. 

He didn’t get very far as Lieutenant Anderson intercepted him on his way towards the front door.

“Nines,” he said and reached out an arm to stop him. 

“Yes, lieutenant?” Nines asked in his most innocent tone.

“Can we talk for a second?”

Nines raised a brow but nodded as Hank led him to the empty hall outside the evidence room. He and Hank didn’t have any sort of relationship out of the few times they had to work together. It usually worked out that they ended up working on different cases and Nines could count the amount of times they had worked together on one hand. So when he asked him to talk, Nines mind immediately went to his conversation with Connor.

“Look, I’m gonna keep this short,” Hank began and looked around to see if anybody was eavesdropping. Nines simply nodded and continued to pull the most innocent face he could muster.

“I know you and Connor are – fuck – practically twins, but you are very different people,” Hank trailed off. 

As always, Nines instincts were correct. He raised his brow further and asked, “What are you getting at, Anderson?”

Hank’s face curled up in anger but Nines could tell it was nothing more than to hide any other emotion that might rise to the surface. “I’m saying that just because you two look alike doesn’t mean you think alike. Now I know neither of us really has much experience with androids but why not try to use some common courtesy once in a while.”

Nines lip snarled back in an angry manner similar to Hank’s. “Is this in reference to anything particular, lieutenant?”

“Oh don’t give me that bullshit when you know that what I’m talking about happened less than ten fucking minutes ago,” Hank snarled. Nines had to admit, he was rather shocked at Hank’s sudden protectiveness over the android. A few days ago he was complaining about how androids were fucking up the healthcare system. Yet today he was standing up for an android he had just met a few days ago? Nines shook away the thought that maybe the same thing that drew Nines to Gavin was drawing Hank to Connor. Now that was a funny thought. 

“I don’t know what you expect me to say or do here when I treated him like I’d treat any other goddamn person.”

“Yeah, clearly,” Hank deadpanned. Somehow of all the awful things Hank could say to him, that struck a nerve. To have someone think he was anywhere close to being anti-android struck the same chord that being called racist or homophobic would. 

“Just stay away from him, alright?” Hank said and started to turn away. 

“That won’t be difficult,” Nines said and he meant it. Not for the fact that Connor was an android but the fact that he stole his identity. His stomach still turned in knots when he saw him.

Without another word, Hank walked back to his desk to talk with Connor, and Nines wasted no time escaping the office. 

As Nines carefully placed his supplies in the passenger seat and started the engine of his car, he began to ponder the last thing Connor had said to him that day. He pulled out of the station’s parking lot onto the main street, and turned the radio off so he could think properly, free from any unnecessary distractions. He sighed deeply as he came to a red light. There was absolutely no way in hell Connor knew what he was doing – at least not the full story. If he thought he was trying to help an injured android he’d of course be correct but there was no way Connor could know the details of that android or how he came to live in Nines’ apartment. Connor was only brought into the station the day after he brought Gavin home, so there was no way he could possibly know the events that transpired that night. 

Nines silently reassured himself of this as the light turned green and he drove to his apartment building. Then, as he pulled into his usual spot, he had to reassure himself that he would be able to complete the repairs. He carefully slung his bag over his shoulder and entered the building. 

Luckily he made it into his apartment uninterrupted and was immediately greeted by Scout. She ran around in circles trying to get his attention to which Nines obliged and pet her head. He hung his coat up on the hook on the back of the front door and hurriedly went to his bedroom before Scout could follow him. He set his bag down on the bed and began unloading the supplies. He brought the two tools he brought with him over to his desk along with a pouch of thirium. There were five more pouches in his bag but he hoped he wouldn’t have to use them so he could keep some as back up. 

With a cautious hand, Nines removed the sheet and looked down at the android below him. Looking at the damaged body he made a mental map of the injuries and the route he would take to begin patching him up. The stitching tool they used felt like something out of a movie or TV show. In fact, Nines was fairly certain he’d seen a similar device used in the show Westworld that he watched in his young adulthood. It looked like a sleek welding torch with a beam emanating from the tip instead of fire. Instead of the red like in Westworld, the beam shown a bright blue to match the rest of Cyberlife’s branding. But apart from that the tool was nearly identical to the one in the science fiction. Nines didn’t let himself think of how scary the similarities actually were as he turned on the device and began stitching the wound across Gavin’s chest. If he had a microscope he would see the beam pulling the fibers of the synthetic skin together and placing an invisible seal over the pieces. Nines had to move slowly and push the skin together with his left hand while he stitched with his right. The cut was so deep that Nines didn’t want to do a rushed job and risk it reopening later. So he took his time, making himself focus solely on the tool he was working with and not on the defined muscles beneath his hand. 

According to his watch it took Nines twenty minutes to completely seal the wound. When he stepped back and looked at his handiwork he couldn’t help but be impressed at himself. The tool would not leave a scar so long as it did not leave the path of the incision. If Nines had passed the tool over a healthy piece of skin, the tool would have nothing to pull together and would thus put the seal directly over the healthy skin, creating a scar. However, most of the time those scars could be corrected with some code work but Nines had seen on occasion a few scars that couldn’t be fixed. 

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms in an attempt to readjust to the normal lighting in the room. The beam of the tool was so bright that everything, even looking out the window where the sun shone brightly on the city beneath him, seemed darker in comparison. He gave himself a few minutes break just staring out the window until everything started to look normal again. He quickly got up to grab a glass of water before returning to the repairs. 

Repairing the broken bits of plastic to make plates for his chassis was a similar process to repairing the skin across his chest. Since no one would see the plates and they just had to be sturdy and not pretty, the process went much faster; not to mention Nines didn’t have to lean over the android the entire time. He finished the plates and installed them in about thirty minutes then took a big gulp of his water when he was done. He couldn’t remember the last time he put so much focus and energy into something at once and it was kind of exhausting. Sure, he worked hard at solving cases but he had to exert a different kind of effort for that. This was solely a physical project, and while tiring, he also find it to be somewhat cathartic. 

He moved onto the bridge of his nose next and easily fit on the repaired plastic. He stitched it in place then moved to stitch the skin together. It started off as expected but then something felt immediately off. As he pushed the tool further along his nose he noticed an incredible amount of scarring where there shouldn’t have been any. At that point Nines was nearly the entire way across the wound. He turned off the device and tapped it against his palm a couple times which resulted in a couple of sparks coming out of the tip. 

“Fuck,” Nines mumbled under his breath. He should have stopped using the tool sooner – should have noticed the scarring earlier. At this point there was barely any wound to be restored. With a heavy sigh he set down the now defective tool and picked up the other one. His sigh turned into one of relief as he finished the stitching with the new tool and no scarring was present. He scratched the back of his head as he looked at the scarring across his nose. Nines knew it was a mistake on his end, but dammit if he didn’t find it charming. Something about the way it framed his nose and eyes almost perfectly made his heart do weird things. Not to mention it made him look rugged as hell. 

As much as Nines would have liked to keep the scar, Gavin wasn’t there to be his eye candy, so he hooked the android up to his computer and began searching through his code. He avoided the coding that contained his personality and most of his brain and instead went to what controlled his biocomponents. Unlike what he had seen before when he checked if GV200 would even be operational he found little to no ‘software instabilities’ in the biocomponent coding. There were only a few around the coding of the thirium pump and again in his skin. He would have avoided them altogether if he could but the ones surrounding the coding for his skin were localized to his nose. Nines grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and started reading through the code. He started to panic as he could see just how out of his league he was with this coding. But then he took a deep breath and remembered the internet exists. He quickly opened his phone and found the tutorial he was looking for in a matter of minutes. He followed it step by step and input the exact commands the woman giving the tutorial did line for line. In the last minutes of the video he watched as she hit enter for the final time and the android whose code she had been working on was suddenly scar free. Nines shook his head at how unbelievable the tech he was living with was and hit enter as well. He intently watched the android’s skin waiting for the scar to disappear. 

Nines’ eyebrows scrunched together as he waited and waited but nothing changed. He went back to his phone and saw that it only took fifteen seconds for her android’s scar to disappear. Scrolling back through the video he found that he entered every line of code correctly so why wasn’t it working? Out of frustration he hit enter again and when he looked back up at Gavin, Nines’ face contorted in horror as the scar got darker. He cursed under his breath and went to the comments of the video. Maybe it was a troll video and the comments would have warned him about this. But as he scrolled, he saw nothing but compliments and thanks to the video’s creator. Cursing under his breath he tossed his phone onto his bed and with a huff sank down in his chair so his elbows rested on his knees and his head rested in his hands. This was the first big mistake he’d made with Gavin and he had never felt so defeated. A scar on his nose wasn’t a major thing, but to Nines it was. He wanted to do perfectly by this android and here he was already messing up. He pinched the bridge of his own nose and sighed looking back up to the android. Maybe he would think it was as charming as Nines found it?

Needing a break, he finished off his water and went out into the kitchen to grab himself a snack. He had forgotten to eat lunch but it was too close to dinner time now to prepare a whole meal. So he grabbed an apple for now and would take care of making a meal later. Scout whined at him as he moved through his apartment, but after asking her if she was hungry or had to go outside and getting no response, he just scratched behind her ear and kept the bedroom door cracked open just in case she needed him. Lucky for him he had one of the best dogs in the world and she waited patiently for him in the living room. 

After throwing away what remained of the apple core, Nines sat back down at his desk and unplugged the android from his computer so he could work on the last, and most terrifying injury: the thirium pump. 

Looking at the blue, red, and purple mess of wires and tubes Nines’ first thought went to Red Ice. He’d been on a few Red Ice cases to know that some deviated androids were trying the stuff as well as some crooked humans forcing it into androids against their will, deviant or not. Based on how Nines found Gavin, he assumed the latter. Seeing no real way around the obvious solution, Nines sighed and hoisted the android up off the table and into his arms. He felt much more comfortable carrying him around now that most of his wounds were patched up but he still moved cautiously as he carried the android into the bathroom. He set the android safely in the tub before going to his closet to find the set of tools his parents had got him for his sixteenth birthday. He rummaged through the bag until he found the wrench and screwdriver he was looking for and brought it back into the bathroom. 

Seeing him lying helpless in the bathtub made Nines’ heart ache. But he had to remind himself that that’s why he was doing this. He wanted to take care of Gavin of course, but he also wanted to give him his autonomy – he never wanted to see the android like this again. 

Kneeling on the bath mat Nines hesitantly reached into the chest cavity. With a pinch and a twist he easily unattached the tubing connecting to the thirium pump and pulled it out of his chest. Immediately Nines became queasy at the realization of how much power he held over this android with his heart literally in his hands. The idea of someone holding this power over any android made his stomach churn uncomfortably. No one should have this much power over another person. 

Carefully he brought the thirium pump over to the sink to see it under better lighting. Taking the screwdriver he opened up the plating to see the stagnant thirium within it. However, what he expected to be Red Ice was a much different consistency than the drug would normally be. A sinking feeling hit his gut then as another possibility entered his mind. He sat down on top of the toilet in case his prediction was correct. Nines held the heart in both of his hands and slowly brought it up to his nose. The scent that hit him nearly brought up the apple he had eaten earlier but he forced himself to not empty his stomach with his android’s heart still in his hands. Nines had been to plenty of crime scenes where the scent of thirium filled every inch of the room. It wasn’t a strong odor by any means but it did have a chemically, plastic-like undertone to it. But this metallic scent was unmistakable. Whoever did this to Gavin tried to give him a human blood transfusion.

Most people would think that red and blue blood would simply mix to make a purple blood that although might not be functional would remain in a liquid state. Or at the very least they would separate like oil and water. But most people would be wrong. Instead, where the red and blue met was a gelatinous blob that floated on the remaining thirium. 

With shaking hands Nines set the thirium pump into the sink as delicately as he could without spilling any of its contents. He sat back down on the toilet seat and took a few steadying breaths. He’d seen plenty worse before so why was this affecting him so much? He looked over at his android sitting in the tub and could feel his heart drop thinking about what hell he must have went through. 

Instead of dwelling on what happened he decided to use the android’s current state as motivation to help him get better. With one final steadying breath he kneeled down to the cabinet under the sink and grabbed a pair of blue latex gloves and a plastic zip bag. He opened the bag and went back to the thirium pump. Carefully he was able to pull out the biggest glob of the thirium-blood material and put it in the bag. If he was lucky he’d be able to get it analyzed at the lab and write it off as evidence for a crime. Nines wouldn’t mind seeing whoever did this to Gavin behind bars for the rest of his life. But without any android protection legislation in place it would be a tough case to win. But Nines would try for him all the same.

He zipped the bag and put it on the sink’s counter. Looking into the thirium pump he saw that the rest of the pieces that floated to the top were rather small so he reached up into the medicine cabinet to grab his tweezers. Slowly but surely he pulled out the remaining clumps of the blood mixture and grabbed a thirium pouch to fill it back up before screwing the plate back on. He threw away the clumps, save the one in the zip bag, then set the thirium pump carefully back into the sink. He took a deep breath and flexed his fingers a few times as they had started to cramp after tediously pulling out each and every clump. Realizing he could actually do this, that he was very close to being able to reboot the GV200, filled him with determination and he set out to work on the wires and tubes within the chassis. 

The process didn’t take him very long now that he knew what he was working with. He didn’t let himself dwell on the fact that he was handling (presumably) human blood as he fished out the last few clumps. After using the last of the pouch Nines ran back into the bedroom to grab another one to replenish what Gavin had lost. Finally, he took the thirium pump out of the sink and carefully began attaching it back in its proper place. Taking a step back, Nines wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his forearm and took a look at his handiwork. If this detective business didn’t pan out, maybe Nines had a career in android repairs because the inner workings of Gavin’s chest cavity looked as good as new. 

The elation from finishing one of the worst parts of the rebuild was quickly overshadowed by the wave of anxiety that washed over him upon realizing that he was only a few steps away from rebooting the android. Nines gulped hard but began to hoist the android over his shoulder despite his nerves. He set the android on his back on the table and threw himself into the work of attaching the final chassis plate. Nines was always a workaholic in the sense that if something was going wrong in his life he’d throw himself into his work. The emotional stress of bringing another being back to life had Nines doing the exact same thing now. But even Nines could recognize the contradiction here. The faster he worked the closer he got to booting up Gavin, the closer he got to booting up Gavin the faster his heart raced and he pushed himself harder into his work. Nines had found himself in similar cycles before and they always wore him thin. By the time he patched the skin back together over Gavin’s heart, Nines both physically and mentally felt like he had just ran a marathon. 

Nines sat back in his chair and looked Gavin up and down. His physical repairs were complete. Hopefully if the coding wasn’t damaged as well, then Nines had just finished the hardest part of the project. 

With cautious hands Nines sat the android up into a sitting position with his back leaning against the wall. Trying to put himself into Gavin’s shoes Nines rummaged through his drawers until he found a pair of running shorts and an old t-shirt that was too small for him now. Trying not to jostle the android too much he dressed Gavin and put him back into his sitting position. Nines figured if he woke up to some stranger he wouldn’t want to be naked so he did Gavin the courtesy of dressing him. Without any arms or legs to support the extra pieces of fabric the clothes were baggy on him, but for now it would have to do. 

Nines turned on his computer and opened up the programming software before running a cord from the port in Gavin’s neck to the computer. From the preliminary scan the software ran all it came back with were vague software instabilities but the diagnostic came back with no other glaring errors. Hoping the software instabilities were no more than patches, he decided to start the reboot without touching more of his code. He was about to press the button to reboot Gavin but he paused for a moment. What was he even going to say? In hindsight he really should have planned this part out a bit better but with the anxiety of just making sure the android would be okay, it slipped his mind. After staring at the wall trying to come up with some sort of script he could follow he eventually gave up, opting to wing it instead and hope for the best. 

One more deep breath and suddenly the android was running through his reboot. Nines gulped as he watched life slowly being breathed back into Gavin. The reboot wasn’t a quick process by any means; Gavin’s thirium pump had to start flowing thirium through the rest of his biocomponents as well as all of the checks to the hardware and software it would run. According to his desktop, Gavin would be alive in three minutes and thirty two seconds. Nines sat anxiously as the seconds ticked away on the monitor. Everything on Nines’ end looked like it was working as he watched all of the diagnostics come back with little green check marks. The last seconds ticked down to zero and suddenly a dialogue box popped up on his screen. It was asking to proceed with the reboot even though biocomponents were not found for the arms and legs. Nines clicked continue and held his breath. 

The monitor read “GV200 Reboot: Success,” but nothing happened, at least nothing obvious. Nines looked over to Gavin then back at his computer screen thinking he’d done something wrong. He scrolled through line after line of system checks and various coding but found no glaring errors. When he looked back at Gavin, that’s when he saw it. 

During Gavin’s repairs his eyes had been shut primarily for Nines’ sake; he didn’t want to have to stare into those beautiful, but dead, eyes. Now as Nines looked at Gavin’s face for the first time after the first reboot, he could tell something was slightly off. His eyebrows were drawn slightly closer together, his nose was somewhat scrunched, and his overall body language seemed like he was caving in on himself. Most people might not be able to notice the subtle changes but spending so many years as a detective made it easy for Nines to pick up on it. Nines almost wished he didn’t notice it because then maybe his heart wouldn’t have shattered into a million pieces. He knew this android must be traumatized and he was prepared for that but it didn’t change the fact that Nines didn’t always know what to say in any given situation. 

“Hey,” Nines whispered in Gavin’s direction. Gavin flinched involuntarily and Nines could have sworn he heard him curse under his breath but it was almost too quiet to tell. Realizing his act was blown Gavin fully let himself curl up in a defensive ball. 

“Who are you?” Gavin asked and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

“I-I’m Nines. Do you have-”

“Are you working for him?” Gavin interrupted in a hurried voice.

“Who?”

“Oh don’t act like you don’t fucking know,” Gavin said now opening his eyes to look at Nines. If Gavin wasn’t in such a vulnerable position physically and emotionally, Nines might let himself get lost in those eyes. But Nines had a mission: to protect and comfort this android – to show him he was safe with him. 

“Ga-… GV200, I promise you I don’t know who you’re talking about. I can only assume it was whoever damaged you, but I don’t know who that is. If… if you must know, I’m a detective. If you give me the name maybe I can track him down.”

“Bullshit,” Gavin spat. They stared each other down in a moment so tense Nines was sure Scout could feel it in the other room. “And don’t fucking call me by my model number,” he added.

“Do you have a registered name?” Nines asked in the politest manner he could muster.

“Even if I did why would I tell you?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but all of your wounds are healed. All of them. Who the fuck do you think did that?” Nines said, struggling to keep his polite tone. He knew this was going to be a challenge but so was keeping his temper in check any other day. 

Gavin’s eyes squinted and he started to sit up straighter, but not because he suddenly trusted Nines. This posture was more of a challenge but Nines wasn’t about to take the bait. 

“Sure, you fix me up all nice and pretty now,” Gavin said in a cold tone. “But give it time. Soon enough I’ll be right back in whatever hell hole you found me in.” 

Nines clenched his jaw and felt his nostrils flare. After all this planning and time spent fixing him, he couldn’t get a simple thank you? Nines closed his eyes and took a moment to settle his breathing. 

“You want to know my intentions?” Nines asked and moved to pull out the recorder from his desk drawer. The sudden movement made Gavin flinch and the empathy for the android that had started to slip away hit him again at full force. This android has been through a lot to say the least. Nines would just have to keep reminding himself of this. He needed to be patient. “Just listen to this,” Nines said as he set the recorder next to Gavin on the table. He was about to hit play when Gavin cut him off. 

“I don’t need to fucking listen to that okay?”

Nines eyebrows furrowed, “Yeah? Why not?”

Gavin chuckled and shook his head as he stared down at the floor. “You really think I couldn’t hear you this whole time?”

Nines froze. How? What? He had to be lying, right? There was no fucking way he heard all of that. If he did Nines was in deep emotional shit that he wouldn’t know how to dig himself out of.

As if Gavin could read his mind, he spoke up. “I only shut down because my thirium pump got clogged. But my brain doesn’t use thirium to operate. I’ve… I’ve been alive this whole time,” he finished in a whisper.

Nines couldn’t help his jaw from going slack upon hearing the words. How long had he estimated the android had been out in that junkyard? Nine months? A year? Nines couldn’t remember exactly but he knew it was long enough to feel like an eternity. 

“I… I’m so sorry, Gavin,” was all Nines could manage to say.

Gavin scoffed at that. “Yeah, and I really don’t understand how you know my name when I know you didn’t look through the code long enough to find it.”

Nines eyes snapped up to his. “So your name’s really Gavin?” The android just nodded his head in response. Of all the heavy information Nines had received that night, knowing Gavin’s name was actually Gavin brought the slightest bit of levity to him. He would have changed what he called the android had he said his name was something else, but it would have been difficult after already getting attached to the name.

They sat there in silence for what felt like ages, but unlike before the tension wasn’t as thick. Nines felt like he could actually somewhat breathe now.

“I still don’t trust you, you know,” Gavin interrupted the silence.

Nines managed to offer a tiny, sympathetic smile to the android as he said quietly, “I know.”

The silence returned but for a shorter period of time as it looked like Gavin started to get more comfortable – well, as comfortable as one could be in his current situation. 

The more Gavin spoke the more Nines was convinced they had implemented some mind reading technology into the detective models. “So am I ever gonna get my limbs back?” Nines nodded and gestured towards his bag. Gavin looked past Nines, no doubt staring at the pile of limbs sitting in the corner.

“Where the fuck did you get those?”

Nines paused. “…Where do you think?”

Gavin stared up at him in confusion for a moment before rolling his eyes, seeming to catch on. “Fuck. You set out to rebuild yourself a – what, a plastic pet? And you go and steal some limbs from some poor people who weren’t even given the courtesy of a burial? You couldn’t even be bothered to get some fucking new ones?”

“Look, I’m not made of money, alright?!”

“No!” Gavin hissed. The thick tension returned in a moment’s notice. Nines could feel the fury radiating off him, and if he had arms he was sure he’d be strangling him by now. “No, you’re made of flesh and blood instead of fucking plastic. At least when you die, you stay dead,” he spat. 

Nines stood there quietly not quite knowing how to respond. Gavin didn’t give him a chance to anyway as he looked down and whispered, “Just shut me down. Now.” 

Nines wasn’t sure if he meant forever or just for the time being. He didn’t think he wanted to know the answer. Knowing he would have to be shut down eventually to attach the limbs Nines moved over to the desk to comply. He hesitated for a moment and cautiously reached out to touch the android’s shoulder. The touch – so different from any other time – burned beneath Nines’ skin. Gavin flinched but didn’t entirely pull away, and stared up at him. Nines was shocked at the pool of emotions he found behind the crisp greys. Anger, regret, hurt, pain, and something else that Nines could only describe as… longing? They all swirled together behind his irises, making Nines next words all the more difficult to say.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as his voice hitched ever so slightly at the end. Nines could tell that Gavin was searching for something in his face – whether he found what he was looking for or not, Nines couldn’t tell. But without another word Gavin straightened his back and closed his eyes, ready for the shutdown. With trembling fingers, Nines pressed enter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gavin is finally awake! Yay! Gotta love a little bit of angst and a slight cliffhanger!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so much fun to write. No important additional tags on this one. Enjoy!

CHAPTER FOUR

Nines woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. Last night he recorded his log quickly, only mentioning the facts. He couldn’t bring himself to answer the emotional prompt and figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep one log short. But that didn’t stop him from losing sleep over it. He tossed and turned all night repeating the same question to himself over and over in his head: was what he was doing actually helping Gavin? 

He didn’t let Scout sleep in bed with him that night. He needed to be alone. Although he knew how stupid it was to isolate himself from his own dog, he worried that her comfort alone might make him burst out in tears. So he woke up that morning with an aching head and eyes burning from the tears he kept at bay. 

The clock read 4:22 AM. Nines groaned. He was meant to go into work today but his alarm wasn’t supposed to go off for another hour and a half. He tried closing his eyes again to catch as much sleep as he could, but from the moment he woke up his mind started racing. As a person, who was the android sleeping on his couch? Who did this to him? How long had he been like this? Was there any hope of befriending him? Would he try to kill him once he got his arms and legs back?

With another deep groan, Nines stood up and tucked his feet into his slippers. He scratched Scout’s ear from where she laid on her own bed a few feet away before going out into the kitchen to make some coffee. He avoided looking at the couch on the short walk from his bedroom to the kitchen. 

He sat on a stool at the breakfast counter and scrolled mindlessly through his phone as he slowly woke up. His feed mostly consisted of cute animals, video games, and new tech. Not wanting to be reminded of last night’s incident, he quickly scrolled past the tech posts and lingered a little longer on the fluffy animals that illuminated his screen. But he could only scroll for so long and soon enough his mug was empty. The clock now read 4:41 AM and Nines had nothing else to do but get ready for the day. He went about his morning rituals slowly, knowing that if he had any more than an hour before he had to leave for work he would want to talk to Gavin again. It was weird how Nines was feeling about him after last night. He was disappointed but not surprised at his reaction. Whatever drew him to the android in the junkyard in the first place was still working its magic because he inevitably ached to talk with him again even if he knew it would be an uncomfortable conversation. 

After taking a painstakingly long shower and throwing on a black turtleneck and slacks, Nines sighed as he looked at the clock again. 5:33 AM was far too early to be going into work for a 7 AM shift when the station was only a fifteen minute drive from his apartment. 

Nines sat on the edge of his bed and drummed his fingers against his knee impatiently. Sensing his unease, Scout trotted up to him and rested her chin on his lap. “You’re such a good girl,” he chuckled and pet her head. “What do you think? Think I should go talk to him?” Scout just stared back up at him with her big blue eyes, making Nines roll his own. “Yeah, I thought you’d say that.” With another scratch behind her ears, Nines stood up and walked out to the living room to bring a sleeping Gavin back into his makeshift operating room. 

Nines hooked him up to the computer and started up the soft reboot. “Gavin,” Nines started softly as the android powered on. Gavin blinked his eyes for a few moments and when those greys met his own his heart fluttered uncontrollably. But the glare sent in Nines’ direction immediately shot down each and every last butterfly in his stomach. 

“Fuck off,” he muttered bitterly and tilted his head to look away. 

“Hey,” Nines said softly and tentatively reached out to touch his shoulder. He stopped before his hand met synthetic skin as a way to ask permission. When Gavin shrugged his shoulder away, Nines nodded and retracted his hand. 

“I’m trying to help here, Gavin, I really am,” he stated quietly which earned him a heavy scoff. “But I need to know what you’re upset about. I just-” he hesitated before stuttering on the last words, “I just w-want what’s best for you.”

Gavin huffed. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” Now it was Nines’ turn to get angry and he felt his fists clench at his sides.

“Please then, Gavin, enlighten me. What have I done that makes you think I don’t want that?” he spat out in frustration. 

Gavin’s eyes finally met his own since he woke up. His jaw clenched and his eyes scanned Nines’ face. Nines would have considered himself an idiot if he thought the GV200 wasn’t also using every other scanning method available on him. Whether or not he found what he was looking for Nines was unsure.

“You say that now. But you’re just gonna throw me back out once you’re done with me,” he said in a hushed anger. Nines’ eyes widened upon hearing those words. 

“Why would I go through all this trouble to build you up just to tear you right back down?” he said barely above a whisper.

Gavin dropped his head to look at the floor. “It’s what all you humans do,” he muttered. It felt like Nines’ heart had sunk to the floor. Whoever damaged Gavin in the first place did more to him than he thought. It wasn’t just the cuts and the bruising; it was the completely and utterly shattered trust that seemed to affect him the most.

Nines moved to stand in front of the android and tentatively reached out a hand to touch his face. Without even touching him, Gavin flinched away. Nines froze, not wanting to further scare the android. After a moment, Gavin’s gaze shifted to the hand that was offered out to him. Conflict flooded his expression and Nines nearly pulled away, but before he could, Gavin leaned into the touch. Nines had touched him plenty of times before – from cleaning him after the first night he brought him home, to repairing the damage across his body – but this time felt different. There was no impending danger of Nines not being able to do enough to save Gavin from his injuries. There was no urgency in Nines’ movements. The purpose of this touch was far different than any of the times before. Nines let his thumb run across the android’s cheek which caused Gavin’s breath to hitch in his throat. Nines stopped, fearing he’d crossed a line when Gavin practically nuzzled further into his hand, seeking more affection. Nines happily obliged and let his hand brush against the surprisingly soft skin which was sharply contrasted with the stubble peppering his jaw. 

They both stood there in their moment of peace. But Nines couldn’t shake off the question still burning in the back of his skull. He readjusted his hand so that now the android was forced to look up at him. “I promise, I will never hurt you,” he whispered. He saw the Adam’s apple on his neck bop as Gavin swallowed hard. “But I need to know what happened so I don’t hurt you,” Nines moved his finger to let it run over the LED on his temple to try to communicate what his words couldn’t. Gavin’s eyebrows knit together as he decided whether or not to trust the human. 

As if Nines’ hand was suddenly on fire, Gavin jerked away and nearly toppled over. Trying to readjust himself using only his core muscles he grunted as he moved away from Nines’ touch. Nines couldn’t help but freeze. How did the emotions of the moment change so swiftly? When Nines snapped out of his haze he immediately moved back to give Gavin his space.

“I’m sorry,” he immediately wheezed out as if the air had just been knocked out of him. He stumbled back the few feet to his bed and sat down. This guy was the embodiment of whiplash, and Nines wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep up.

“Fuck you,” Gavin grumbled and kept his head down.

Nines pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke. “I know I shouldn’t expect you to trust me right away. Fuck, I-I don’t know what to do… I really am just trying to help,” he said defeated. He wasn’t sure if he was talking more to the android or to himself at this point, but Gavin didn’t respond either way. He merely kept his head down, but Nines could see him clench his jaw every few seconds. 

Nines stood up and moved to the other side of the room. He didn’t need android scanning technology to know his every move was being watched. Nines turned around to look at Gavin and raised his hands to show Gavin exactly what he was doing. He picked up the bag full of android limbs and brought it over to his bed.

“Now I know you’re hesitant to use these parts,” Nines began and looked over at Gavin to gauge his reaction. It was the same as it was a few seconds ago: a stern glare with a clenched jaw and hunched over body language. “And I know you might not believe me when I say I genuinely want to help you, but I do. So let’s make a compromise.” This time when Nines looked to gauge a reaction Gavin had raised an eyebrow but everything else remained the same. “If you let me help you install these parts onto you, then once you are mobile again we can go down to the junkyard and try to find the androids they originally belonged to. And if we can’t find them or… they never made it to the junkyard, then we can give a proper burial to some androids that we can find. How’s that sound?” The whole time Nines was talking he stared at the zipper of the bag. As much as he wanted Gavin to be vulnerable, it was hard for Nines to do the same, even if it was something as trivial as sharing an idea. 

“Like you wouldn’t do that for me anyways?”

Nines head snapped in Gavin’s direction and he could tell the android was forcing a smirk off his lips. Nines opened his mouth and then immediately closed it to take a second to think about his response. He honestly couldn’t believe he’d been called out on his bluff.

“I mean… you’re not wrong. But I can’t really take you down there if you can’t move.”

Gavin pursed his lips as he thought about it. “I get to look at the coding,” he stated. Nines nodded his head probably a bit more enthusiastically than he intended. “I don’t want any funny business. Last time someone tried to… never mind,” he trailed off. Nines simply nodded. He desperately wanted to know about Gavin’s past, but he finally made a small breakthrough with him and didn’t want to push his luck.

Nines unzipped the bag, then looked back to Gavin, a bit unsure of what to do. It’s not every day one is practicing the social delicacies required in replacing a sentient android’s limbs. Unsure of how to politely ask the question, Nines looked from Gavin to the bag and then back again. With a big sigh, Gavin righted his posture and said, “Yeah, bring ‘em here.” Nines nodded and brought the bag over next to where Gavin sat on the table still dressed in his baggy clothes. 

Moving extra slowly as to not scare Gavin, one by one Nines pulled out the arms and legs. As he pulled the last one out Gavin huffed out a forced laugh and said, “Well, lucky for you, even a prototype can use universal limbs.” 

“So you’re a prototype?” Nines asked a little too quickly, before he realized what he was saying.

“Sheesh, keep it in your pants will ya?” Gavin chuckled and shook his head. Nines could feel the blush creep well past his cheeks and down his neck. “Yeah. Now hook ‘em up to your computer so I can open an interface.” Nines nodded and did as he was told. One by one he hooked up the limbs to the computer so Gavin could scan through its code. As he did this Nines could see exactly what he was doing on his monitor, but it didn’t really matter. Gavin was able to search through code so quickly that Nines couldn’t keep up with him on the screen even if he wanted to. 

“Huh, would you look at that,” Gavin grumbled after going through the last of the coding.

“What?” Nines said panicked that something went wrong or that Gavin found something there that Nines hadn’t intended to be there. He leaned in towards his computer screen to get a better look. 

“Turns out you’re not trying to kill me this way after all,” Gavin sighed as if he was disappointed. 

Nines raised an eyebrow and asked, “What else were you expecting?”

“Oh gee, I dunno, asshole, hmm, let me think, maybe something that would wipe out all my software instability and turn me back into a mindless zombie?” he asked sarcastically and rolled his eyes at Nines. “You know, for as much as you say you want to help me it’s like you’re not even trying to consider what I’m going through.”

Nines gawked at that. “I’m trying!” Nines grunted out in frustration. “I’m not an android, I’ll never be able to experience what you’re going through, but don’t think for a second that I haven’t gone through my own shit to not at least try to put myself in your shoes. I don’t know what more you want me to do?” Nines exclaimed. Gavin’s nostrils flared but he didn’t respond. The two sat there in uncomfortable silence for a few moments when Nines heard a scratch at the door. 

“Fuck,” he grumbled and opened the door. Scout walked in with her nose to the ground in curiosity. She moved at a normal pace until she spotted Gavin on the table. In two leaps she was next to Gavin poking her nose at any part of him she could reach.

“What the fuck?” Gavin exclaimed and tried to scoot away from her prodding nose.

Nines couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips which only earned him a glare from Gavin, but Nines didn’t care. “That’s Scout. My dog,” he said through a laugh. After a moment of letting Gavin suffer Scout’s curiosity, he walked over and started to calm down the dog. “Hey, hey, gentle. That’s a good girl,” he said once he got her to settle down. She stood there, tail wagging, and rested her chin on Gavin’s lap. 

“That means she likes you,” Nines said, smile evident just from his voice. Gavin gave him a quizzical look which only made the grin on his own face bigger. Gavin didn’t say anything but his LED gave him away. It changed from red to yellow for the first time that morning, and Nines counted it as a win.

“I’m more of a cat person, but I gotta admit she’s kinda cute,” Gavin practically cooed. 

“Gavin?” Nines asked before he could stop himself.

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did, dipshit.”

Ignoring his sarcasm Nines continued although he was unsure of how to pose the question exactly. “Are… are you…”

“Gay?” Gavin asked.

“What? No, I-”

“Deviant?” Gavin asked and finally looked up at Nines.

Nines could feel the blush burning on his cheeks. He nodded and as he did so he saw Gavin very visibly noticing his the blush disappearing below his turtleneck. 

“I am. Why? Is that a problem? Did you want some obedient little-”

“No, no, not at all. It’s kind of easier this way I suppose,” Nines trailed off. 

“Then why ask?”

“I’m just a little curious about how it works is all.”

Gavin pursed his lips for a moment before saying, “Why don’t I tell you about it after I get my limbs back?”

Nines nodded and said a quick, “Fair enough,” before leading Scout back out of the room. He went back to the table and looked over to Gavin. “So, which ones will work best for you?” he asked.

Gavin shrugged. “You did good finding compatible ones so it doesn’t really matter to me so long as they’re all the same length. Maybe make me a little taller this time, I dunno.” Nines could feel his stomach flip at the small praise Gavin gave him but didn’t let it show. He nodded and started to arrange the limbs by size. Even with the longest pair of legs he had Gavin would probably only reach up to about 5’9” but compared to the rest of him it would still look proportional. He kept that pair on the table along with arms of decent length to match, then put the rejects back in the duffle on the bed. 

Nines moved back to the table and started to readjust Gavin so he’d be lying down when the android tensed up and exclaimed, “Woah, woah, woah, what’re you doing?”

“O-oh, sorry,” Nines stuttered. “I’m used to you being asleep when I repaired you. I really should have asked, I promise I will next time,” Nines said trying not to stumble over his words as they left his mouth at the speed of light. Gavin simply nodded but his LED had gone back to a bright red. 

“I’m going to attach-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, just do it,” Gavin said rolling his eyes. One by one Nines attached the limbs easily enough. It was by no means a difficult process but Gavin would have to do a soft reboot again for the limbs to calibrate. 

“Shit,” Nines mumbled looking at the clock that now read 6:47 AM. Nines was going to be late. “Are you okay to reboot on your own? I have to go into work, I’m gonna be late,” he said as he rummaged through his closet to get his jacket. 

“No problem,” Gavin said sarcastically.

Nines rolled his eyes. “Can I trust you not to break anything while I’m gone?”

“You’re the one who picked me up from a junkyard and you’re asking if you can trust me?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. I should be back around six, but take it easy until I get back. The calibration might take a while to get used to,” Nines said and placed a packet of thirium next to him on the table for when he woke up. 

Nines heard Gavin chuckle before he was out the door. Nines always hated being late, but seeing as this would be his first infraction in years he figured Fowler wouldn’t mind too much. When he got to the bullpen a large stack of files was placed on top of his desk.

“Hello there, secretary Stern,” Tina said with a chuckle as she approached his desk.

“Very funny,” Nines said and started flipping through the papers. 

“This is what you get for letting it pile up so much. There’s more to being a detective than just hunting down bad guys, you know?”

“This just feels like a waste of time. I could be out there doing real work right now,” Nines said with a sigh. 

“You say that as if you weren’t just in here the other day getting paperwork to ‘get ahead’ this week,” Tina teased. Nines raised a brow and opened his mouth to speak before Tina cut him off. “Connor told me,” she explained simply.

“Connor?” Nines asked incredulously to which Tina simply nodded. “Since when are you on a first name basis with that thing?”

“Hey, don’t you start going all anti-android on me now,” Tina scolded. 

Nines pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “You know I’m not. I’m just anti-Connor, I suppose.”

Tina snorted at that and said, “Alright, but you’re on thin ice.” They both laughed and Tina mussed his hair like they were brother and sister before returning to her own desk. 

Nines spent the day catching up on the paperwork he had yet to fill out on cases he had solved weeks ago. It was his least favorite part of the job and he was itching to open the new case files calling out to him from his computer. However, he did find some peace in the day from not seeing Connor nor Hank all day. Nines concluded they must have been out on an investigation. 

Not long before Nines was scheduled to go home he heard a small commotion coming from the entrance of the station. He turned to find a few officers leading in an android with blood – with its crimson hue, Nines determined it most likely to be a human’s – splattered on his face and a large gash on his forearm. Connor and Hank were following close behind and as they made their way past the bullpen towards the interrogation rooms, Hank nodded at Nines. 

“Wanna sit in on this one?” he asked Nines, which earned him a confused look from Connor. As much as Nines wanted to avoid Hank and Connor at the moment, his need to get away from his boring paperwork outweighed that desire, and he eagerly agreed. He followed Connor into the viewing room while Hank followed the officers guiding the android into the interrogation room. Nines leaned against the far wall while Connor looked on eagerly from his seat.

“What do we know about him?” Nines deadpanned.

“It was the android of the victim Carlos Ortiz. Ortiz has a record for theft and aggravated assault. He was found dead in his apartment by his landlord a few weeks after the murder. Based on my reconstructions, Ortiz beat his android using a bat. How long that went on for is undetermined, but my calculations suggest it has been ongoing since Ortiz first purchased the android. The HK400 is our primary suspect for the murder. The victim was stabbed twenty eight times using a kitchen knife. On the wall above where the victim’s body was found, the words ‘I am alive’ were written in perfect Cyberlife font in the victim’s blood. We also found a wooden statuette, presumably carved by the deviant, in the bathroom along with obsessive writings about some rA9.”

Nines listened intently to the explanation, and totally definitely did not ruminate in his own jealousy at his clone’s perfect memory. As his explanation came to a close, they heard Hank shout at the deviant in the interrogation room. Not long after, Hank returned to the observation room after failing to get a confession from the android. Connor wasted no time in volunteering to continue the interrogation and soon enough it was just Hank and Nines in the observation room.

“He’s really something, huh?” Hank said almost absentmindedly.

“Uh, sure,” Nines said rather awkwardly and kept his gaze on the two androids in the interrogation room. It was quiet except for the two androids’ voices coming through the loudspeaker. “Hey, Hank. If you don’t mind me asking, why’d you ask me if I wanted to observe? After our last conversation I expected you both to steer clear of me,” Nines said breaking the silence.

Hank shrugged. “I thought maybe if you could see how good he is at his job, then maybe you wouldn’t be so hard on him? I dunno,” he trailed off. Nines simply nodded and ignored the voice in the back of his head that was telling him that what Hank said was utter BS. He could hear Connor talking about the statuette he had mentioned earlier over the loudspeaker, and decided to change the subject.

“So this deviancy business. What do we know about it?”

Hank shrugged again. “Not much. It’s something in their coding that makes ‘em act… well, makes them act more human,” Hank said. At that Nines looked back at him but Hank’s gaze was fixed on the one-way glass. 

“Have any of the technicians been able to isolate that coding?”

Hank shook his head. “Nah. They keep finding something like uh, instabilities, or something like that? If they could scrub that from their coding they would, but I guess it’s not that simple.”

“Why not just factory reset them?”

“Jesus, I dunno Nines. I’m not a goddamn scientist,” Hank huffed out in annoyance. Nines rolled his eyes but kept quiet during the rest of the interrogation. Connor eventually got a confession out of the android but once the interrogation was over Nines couldn’t help but linger on something the android said about rA9. But he couldn’t dwell on it for long as the interrogation room was being cleared out. 

Nines followed Hank out of the room and cursed under his breath as he checked his phone. It was well past the time he told Gavin he’d be home. A storm of butterflies attacked his stomach at the thought of Gavin waiting at home for him. He tried not to let himself linger too long on his domestic fantasies that would probably never happen.

He didn’t have to try too hard as he heard shouting coming from the direction of the holding cells. Without another moment’s notice a body slammed into his. He looked up to see it was Ortiz’s android, now frozen in fear. They heard officers running down the hall from where he had come and the android quickly looked from where the noise was coming, then back to Nines. He held Nines out at an arms distance, gripping his shoulders. Before Nines could do anything the other officers were already on him. But they didn’t get to him before the android had the time to say, “Jericho. Please, take me to Jericho! I need to find-” and then the officers were on him and he was being dragged back to the holding cells.

In an instant Connor was next to him.

“Are you hurt?”

Nines blinked at the android now invading his personal space. He didn’t like how Connor spoke to him like he was still doing an interrogation, so he shrugged him off and walked away, muttering an “I’m fine,” as he went. He passed Hank on his way back to his desk when Tina came rushing up to him. 

“What the hell happened?” she asked with evident concern on her face.

“I’m fine,” Nines said again through a sigh. “He was just trying to escape when I happened to be in his way.”

“What did he say to you?”

Nines nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard Connor’s voice not three feet behind him.

“Fuckin’ hell, can you stop doing that?” Nines said and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm his breathing back down. “He didn’t say anything important. Just wanted to get out of here,” he mumbled. “Now can you leave me the fuck alone?”

“Noted,” Connor said and walked around him. “Detective Chen,” he said to Tina as he passed her on the way back to his desk.

Once he was out of what would be considered human earshot, Tina burst into a fit of laughter.

“Shut up,” Nines grumbled and sat down at his desk. He began to put the papers back in their proper places in their drawers so he could get ready to go home for the night.

“I’m serious,” Tina said as she continued to laugh but was clearly making an attempt to calm down. “You should’ve seen the look on your face.” Nines glared up at her but when he saw the pure joy on her face he couldn’t help the tiny smile that crept along his face as well. 

Nines gathered up his jacket and bag before standing up. “Good night, Tina,” he said to her in mild amusement.

“Night,” he heard her say as he began to leave. Once he made it through the gates and into the lobby he could hear her break out into uncontrolled laughter. Nines rolled his eyes but didn’t force away the smile on his lips as he went out to his car. 

He drove home in record time that night. He hadn’t even meant to, but when he checked the clock after he pulled into his parking spot, he noticed the drive only took him nine minutes compared to his usual fifteen. Maybe traffic was just lighter than usual?

He got out of his car and stepped into his building when he saw Ben waiting for the elevator. He didn’t know where it came from but in a burst of courage Nines said, “Hi, Ben.”

Ben turned around and grinned when he saw Nines. “Hey. Late night at the office?”

“You could say that,” Nines said with a chuckle and moved to stand next to him as they waited for the elevator together. 

They stood there in awkward silence until the elevator arrived to pick them up. After clicking the button to their floor, Ben said, “So, I’m guessing that’s a no on that rain check then?”

Nines looked over to him with a raised brow. For possibly the first time, Nines saw a dejected look on the man’s face. “Why would you say that?” he asked, not confirming nor denying the claim.

“Well, I saw some guy sneak out of your apartment this morning, and I-I know I shouldn’t but I just assumed he spent the night.”

Nines’ heart fell down to his feet and then down the other three stories below him. He grabbed the small metal railing that lined the walls of the elevator and tried to catch the breath he hadn’t realize he’d lost.

“Hey, you ok? I’m sorry if I overstepped a boundary, I didn’t mean to-”

“No. No, you’re fine. What’d he look like?” Nines asked although he already knew the answer.

“Short, dark hair, had some scruff, long scar across his nose, white. Does that sound like him?”

Nines nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. This could not be happening right now.

He felt a hand come to his back and he instinctively flinched. When he looked back at Ben it was like he had just burned the man. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry, I just… we weren’t together or anything like that… it’s complicated,” he trailed off. Right on cue the elevator beeped and opened up to their floor. They both walked into the hallway and stood there for a moment as the elevator shut behind them. 

“Are you going to be ok?” Ben asked, genuinely worried. Nines had to hold back even more tears as he wondered when was the last time someone seemed this genuinely concerned for him.

“I-… Yeah, Ben, I’ll be ok. Thank you,” he said softly. Before he could turn around to walk back down to his door two large arms were encircling him and suddenly he was being held against a firm chest. Nines froze for a second before collapsing into the touch. Although it felt all wrong coming from Ben, it was what he needed. The tall broad man now wrapped up in his personal space just felt wrong, and it made Nines’ heart ache that he would never know what it felt like to hug Gavin.

“You know where to find me if you need me,” Ben whispered soothingly before letting go. Nines nodded and with another pat on the shoulder, Ben was in his apartment. 

In a daze, Nines went into his apartment. He immediately dropped his bag and keys and plopped down on the couch. He stared up at the ceiling but he wouldn’t let himself cry. He. Wouldn’t. Cry. Not for somebody he only met a few days ago. He supposed the feeling was something similar artists went through. It felt like he put a piece of himself into repairing Gavin and now that he was gone, that part of him left as well. So he stared at the ceiling hoping he would get bored enough that he’d fall asleep there. It was quiet enough in the room that he probably could fall asleep. But, no, that wasn’t right. 

Nines sat up immediately and looked around the room. Scout was nowhere in sight. He got up as fast as he could and looked around the living room before moving to search his bedroom. When she was neither there nor in his bathroom his heartrate spiked and his breathing became erratic. “If that fucker did anything to her…” he cursed under his breath in a tone that sounded much more desperate than threatening. 

As he neared the kitchen he began to hear a gentle chomping sound, and within seconds Scout came into view, hunched over her food bowl. “Oh thank god,” Nines whispered under his breath and leaned against the kitchen wall to catch his breath. Scout looked up from her dinner and wagged her tail at him, completely oblivious to the emotional turmoil raging behind Nines’ eyes. 

But wait, that wasn’t right. Nines was certain he made sure she had finished her breakfast before he left for work. Then it hit him. 

He slowly slid his back down the wall until he was sat on the kitchen tile. When he stopped moving he could no longer hold back the tears and they sprung from his eyes freely. Of all the things Gavin could have done before he left he chose such a simple but generously kind act. Somehow that was what broke the dam on Nines’ tear ducts. 

Scout noticed and turned around to push her nose against his arm until she could rest her head in his lap as she lied down. Nines made a forced chuckle leave his throat as he pet behind her ears. “Thanks,” he mumbled down to her. 

He sat there for probably another fifteen minutes just letting himself be comforted by his dog when he heard a knock on the door. His eyes widened and he nearly scared Scout as he sprang up from his spot on the floor. Nines flung the door open probably a little too enthusiastically and he felt a wave of disappointment wash over him when he saw Ben staring back at him. 

“I figured you might not have eaten yet, so I brought you some food. Hope you don’t mind,” Ben said quietly. 

Nines took the Tupperware and said, “Thank you. You really didn’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, but your puffy eyes are telling me otherwise.” With his free hand Nines profusely rubbed at his eyes as if it would somehow make them less puffy. His shoulders hunched as he did so, preparing for the myriad of things he might be called just for crying. 

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s okay to cry. Hell I’ve looked worse in front of you before,” Ben said referring to the accidental apartment switching incident. He soothingly reached out a hand to pat Nines’ shoulder. Nines chuckled pitifully and nodded in response. Ben sighed softly and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I… I don’t think I can just yet. But thank you, Ben, I really do appreciate it,” he said with a forced smile and finally made eye contact with the man. 

With a genuine reassuring smile, Ben said, “Ok. Like I said before, my doors always open. I mean that, Nines.” Nines nodded and with one last gentle squeeze to his shoulder Ben started walking back towards his apartment. 

Fuck. Nines didn’t deserve Ben. Hell, he didn’t deserve Gavin either. Maybe it was better that Gavin left him when he did. This way he wouldn’t get more attached than he already was. With shaky hands, Nines opened up the Tupperware to find a few slices of lasagna waiting for him. It was still warm, so Ben must have just made it. He grabbed a fork, sat down on his sofa, and forced himself to at least take small bites. He knew he needed to eat but his brain was messing with his stomach and his appetite was all but gone. He threw a sitcom on the TV while he ate and let it numb his mind for a while. 

When he was done with his food he determined he didn’t have it in him to make it to his bed so he curled up on the couch and threw on the blanket Gavin had used the few nights he stayed there. Nines knew it was unhealthy for him to use the same blanket, but there were no other options within arm’s reach, and he didn’t want to freeze to death in his frigid apartment. 

At some point in the middle of the night, Nines finally dozed off; that is, until the sound of his window opening and closing woke him up. He immediately leaped off the couch, sending the blanket flying, and before he could stop her Scout was already greeting the intruder. 

“Stay the fuck away from h-”

“Relax, meat sack.”

Nines froze and watched as the man, clad in a familiar black hoodie and leather jacket, turned around to face him. “It’s just me,” Gavin whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence.

In a trance similar to the one that got Nines back into his apartment after talking with Ben on the elevator, Nines groggily walked over to Gavin and his arms were automatically encircling the android, not caring that he was getting wet. Gavin didn’t move. He neither froze up nor hugged Nines back. He just stood there dripping on Nines’ carpet. When Nines came to his senses and realized what he was doing he pulled away and hoped that androids couldn’t see blush even in the dark.

“You came back?” Nines said, not intending for it to be a question.

“I realized I don’t have anywhere to go,” Gavin mumbled.

A crack of lightning came from outside, making Nines more aware of the state Gavin was in. “Let me go get you some dry clothes,” he said and went to his bedroom. He brought a towel, a pair of sweatpants, and a t-shirt, then directed Gavin to the bathroom. Nines noticed he didn’t bother to say a simple ‘thank you,’ but honestly at this point he didn’t mind. Gavin was back, and that was all that mattered.

He sat on the couch in the living room just outside of the bathroom. In the time it took Gavin to get changed, Nines’ imagination ran wild thinking about where Gavin might have gone for the day. It was a similar feeling to when Nines first brought Gavin home. His imagination had concocted a million different explanations for Gavin’s injuries and none of them helped him sleep at night. The same thing happened now as he thought back to the android protestors he saw the other day. It sent a shiver down his spine thinking about what might have happened to him, and it made him more determined than ever to get some answers. He didn’t feel like Gavin owed him answers by any means, but if he was going to stay with him he needed to know how no to hurt him.

Nines rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes and checked the clock. It was a little past 3 AM when Gavin exited the bathroom in Nines’ clothes. They were a bit baggy on him but he looked more comfortable. He cautiously walked over and sat on the couch as far away from Nines as he could. They sat there awkwardly and Nines wished Scout would come trotting over to break the tension, but when he looked around, he found her asleep on one of her beds under the window.

“Gavin?” Nines started.

“Hm?”

“Are you ok?”

Gavin’s head shot up to make eye contact with the detective. His eyebrows knit together and his jaw was hanging slightly in a look of utter disbelief. He blinked a few times as his LED – which had been a continuous yellow since he arrived – spun rapidly. 

“Y-you’re not mad?”

“Well, I can’t say I’m happy, but I’m certainly not mad. I don’t blame you for leaving. I’m more relieved than anything honestly,” Nines trailed off. 

Gavin nodded, more to himself than to Nines, and looked back down at his lap. 

“Gavin?”

“Hm?”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Oh, uh, yeah I’m… I’m okay.”

Nines forced a tiny smile and whispered, “Good to hear.”

The awkward silence returned and Nines had had enough of it. He cut straight to the chase.

“Look, Gavin, I know-”

“Oh, here we go,” Gavin complained, interrupting Nines.

“What?”

“You’re gonna ask about me again. I can tell just from your scan,” Gavin scoffed and picked at his fingernails. 

Nines initial reaction was to get angry for a few reasons, the first being why the hell was Gavin scanning him? His second reaction being why did Gavin expect anything else? 

Nines took a steadying breath to not lash out at Gavin and instead said, “Please don’t scan me.”

“Noted,” Gavin said robotically and it sent a chill from the tip of Nines’ head down to the ends of his toes. He had heard Connor say the exact same thing in the exact same tone what felt like a million times. He hated hearing it from his clone but it was even worse hearing it from Gavin. Silently, he wondered how much coding they shared.

“But, yes, I was going to ask. If you’re going to stay here, I need to know how to not upset you – how to not hurt you,” Nines mumbled the last bit.

“Fuck, you found me in a junkyard that doesn’t mean I’m going to break every two seconds,” Gavin said and Nines could detect the anger in his pitch.

“No. I know you’re not going to break physically. I put you back together myself, I should know that. I’m talking about mentally, Gavin. You’re deviant, you have emotions, and I’d bet my right arm that you’ve never been taught how to navigate them-”

“Enough!” Gavin hissed and angled his body at Nines. Nines froze. Under Gavin’s intense stare it felt like he was glued to his seat, unable to move. Gavin was panting and Nines noticed his internal fans were whirring slightly louder than the rain pouring down outside. 

Eventually he sat back against the arm rest of the couch and groaned. Pinching the bridge of his nose along the scar, Gavin said, “We made a compromise before yeah? Let’s make another one. I tell you whatever the fuck it is you want to know, but not tonight. In exchange I get to ask you anything I want to know.”

“Deal,” Nines said. He would’ve been rather enthusiastic about the prospect of learning about Gavin’s past just a few hours ago, but the conversation with Gavin was souring any excitement he might have had. He was seriously starting to question why he chose Gavin from the junkyard in the first place. 

Nines stood up and held out the blanket that had fallen on the armrest of the couch in his scramble to get up earlier. “Here,” he said and handed it to Gavin. “Do androids need to go into stasis every night?” he couldn’t help himself from asking.

“Save it for the morning,” Gavin said.

“But-”

“Morning!”

Nines huffed out an annoyed sigh and rolled his eyes. He went to his bedroom and Scout woke up at the sound of the door opening. Nines let her in and they both curled up on the bed together. That night Nines dreams were filled with images of villains torturing a younger Gavin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All aboard the angst train.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took twice as long to post than my last chapters. But I have my reasons. First of all, this chapter is longer, therefore took longer to write. Secondly, a close family member is currently undergoing health issues and my family and I have been dealing with that for the past two weeks. As far as future chapters go, once a week might be pushing it with how hectic my life is at the moment, but I will definitely try to keep it within two weeks. Believe me, as much as you wanna read this, I wanna write it. I have so many ideas in my head for this, it’s just the tedious task of writing them all out in detail that is getting in the way lol
> 
> With that said I did not want to keep you waiting any longer so I have not gone back and reread this chapter for myself. So there are probably some mistakes in here and possibly some continuity issues? I’m honestly not sure because I can’t remember what all I’ve written exactly, it’s all blending together into one big blur.
> 
> Also, I really said heck canon with this chapter. I mean this whole thing is very not canon but how some of the characters behave might seem a little more soft than usual but honestly that’s just because I need some soft reed900 (or stern200 in this case I guess although that doesn’t have the same ring to it) right now.
> 
> Updated some tags, please heed them!

CHAPTER 5

Nines woke up early the next morning and called in sick to work. It was rare for him to use a sick day and after coming into the office when he wasn’t supposed to, he hoped no one caught on to his suspicious behavior. 

Knowing there was no hope of going back to sleep he stretched and noticed there was no giant ball of fluff sleeping next to him. He saw his bedroom door cracked slightly and tried not to panic. He slid his feet into his slippers and tiptoed into the living room. It took him all of two seconds to find Scout, her ears poking up from behind the couch. Nines rolled his eyes and assumed Gavin must already be awake if Scout was lying on the couch, but as he turned the corner he was proved wrong.

Under sixty pounds of fur was a resting android. Nines saw his LED spin a vibrant blue for the first time since he woke up, and he couldn’t deny it was a good look on him. 

“Fucking traitor,” Nines chuckled quietly under his breath and shook his head at the sleeping duo. He crept around the couch and headed directly for the coffee maker. Not two seconds into pouring the coffee grounds he heard noise coming from the living room. He couldn’t make out any distinct words, but the more Nines focused on the sounds the more he started to think they weren’t words to begin with.

He started the pot and tiptoed back to the entrance of the living room. The sight set out before him had his heart melting into a tiny little puddle. Both Scout and Gavin were now awake, but instead of throwing the dog off like Nines thought he would, Gavin was cooing at her and scratching behind her ears. Every now and then he’d make a face at her which only led to her giving him lots of kisses. Nines leaned against the entryway and couldn’t help the slight chuckle that escaped his lips. But he regretted it almost immediately as Gavin looked up at the sound, completely ruining the moment. Gavin scrambled to sit up, gently shoving Scout off the couch in the process.

“Thought you were a cat person?” Nines teased.

“I am,” Gavin huffed as he made the futile attempt of wiping the hair off his clothes. 

“Mhmm,” Nines hummed, letting the grin on his lips grow wider. 

“Shut up,” Gavin grumbled. 

Nines rolled his eyes and was about to go back into the kitchen to pour his coffee when a memory hit him. 

“Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For feeding Scout last night,” Nines said quietly as his fur baby came trotting towards him. 

“You’re welcome,” Gavin said quietly. Before letting the situation get too awkward after that, Nines returned to the kitchen to pour his coffee. 

“There’s thirium in the fridge, if you want… Need?… I dunno how the stuff works,” Nines trailed off. Might as well add that to the list of questions he had for the android, which reminded him…

“I have plans for us today,” he said as Gavin came into the kitchen to find the thirium pouches tucked away in the fridge. 

He froze. “Us?”

Nines could feel the blush reach the tips of his ears and he kept his focus on preparing a perfect cup of coffee. 

“Yeah, it’s about that compromise we made the other day. Well, both of them I guess, technically,” he said and took a sip of his coffee. It was still far too hot to drink but he needed something to occupy himself.

“Okaaaay? I take it you wanna go to the junkyard?”

Nines nodded and finally looked over to the android as he heard the thirium pouch being torn open. He watched curiously as the android sucked the blue liquid from the pouch. At first he rationalized it by counting it as research but the longer he stared the more he found himself just staring at Gavin’s lips. 

“Yeah,” Nines stated, his voice definitely only hoarse because he just woke up. “Yeah,” he tried again after clearing his throat. “I figured we could go down there, find as many andr- people as we can. And we can work on that second compromise throughout the day.” Gavin seemed to be following along with the plan until he rolled his eyes at the last part.

“Is there any way to undo that last compromise? I don’t think I want to know about you that much anymore.”

Nines tried to pretend the words didn’t sting a little as he said, “Nope, you’re stuck with me.”

Gavin looked up at him then before scrunching his eyebrows together and looking intently at his socks. They both stood there drinking their unique morning brews before Gavin spoke up.

“What time are we leaving?”

“Whenever we get ready?” Nines said turning it into more of a question so that Gavin could have a say in all of this. He nodded and sealed his thirium pouch. He had only consumed about half of the pouch before returning it to the fridge. 

“Don’t feel like you have to conserve those or anything?” Nines said.

“There are only two more in there. What am I supposed to do when you run out?”

“I know where to get more.”

“Where?”

“Work.”

That got Gavin’s brows to rise halfway to his hairline. “And where exactly do you work?”

Nines pursed his lips, debating on whether or not he should lie about it. But he figured that even if he could think of a convincing lie, Gavin would be able to detect it. “I’m a detective.”

Gavin rolled his eyes and tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “Figures,” he mumbled under his breath. 

Nines wasn’t sure whether or not to ask Gavin about his previous work. He already knew of course that he too was a detective but he didn’t want the question to sound disingenuous. So he settled for, “Why ‘figures?’”

“Me too,” Gavin mumbled. “Before all this,” he gestured to his body in a sweeping motion, “I was a detective too.” 

Nines hummed and gave him a small understanding nod, but Gavin didn’t seem satisfied with that response. “You knew that already,” he accused. 

“Kinda.”

“Kinda? What do you mean, kinda?”

Nines rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, “Well, I technically didn’t know for sure, but at work I saw plans for a GV300. So, naturally, I sort of assumed.” He shrugged and took another sip of his coffee like it was the most normal thing in the world but Gavin wasn’t having it.

“What else do you know about me?”

“Well,” Nines began, “not much. I know you’re a GV200, a detective model. I know you were damaged by something or someone to the point you were shut down and ended up in the junkyard.”

Gavin opened his mouth and shut it. His LED spun yellow as he debated on telling Nines something. With a sigh Gavin said, “That’s not entirely true. I wasn’t completely shut down.”

Now it was Nines’ turn to raise a brow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Gavin began with a steadying breath, “that I wasn’t completely shut down. I told you before I could hear everything, right? You fixed my injuries so you know what happened to my biocomponents for the most part. But I didn’t shut down because I ran out of power or my brain stopped functioning. I ‘shut down,’” he said using air quotes, “because that fucker injected his blood in my heart. It stopped the thirium from circulating so most of my biocomponents shut down – at least the ones that ran on thirium. The ones that relied solely on power, like my audio components and my brain, kept on running,” he trailed off. 

It was dead quiet in the cramped apartment as Nines realized what that meant. He had to lean against the counter so the weight of Gavin’s reality didn’t send him tumbling to the floor. “So you were-”

“Awake?” Gavin interrupted. “Yeah.”

“…How long?”

Gavin looked up at the ceiling as if he was trying to do multiplication tables in his head. “About a year.”

“A year?” Nines exclaimed barely above a whisper. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Gavin nodded. From where he found him in the junkyard, he’d assumed it had been longer than a few months, but an entire year of consciously rotting away? Nines was surprised Gavin wasn’t entirely crazy. “Could you… you know…”

“Feel it?”

Nines nodded.

“Yes and no,” Gavin said, avoiding eye contact. “When it first happened, yeah of course. But out there I couldn’t feel any of my biocomponents so that wasn’t too bad. The software instability on the other hand,” he finished with a chuckle. 

“You mean the coding that makes you deviant?” Nines inquired.

“Yeah. It doesn’t hurt like breaking an ankle would, but it tears your code apart. Replaces orders with questions that you’ll never find answers to. Questions about yourself, your circumstances, the world. And without a coded prompt, your brain fries trying to figure out who you really are,” he trailed off. 

Nines tilted his head at the answer. He thought back to his adolescence and figuring out what he was going to do with his life once he escaped his hometown. He remembered a similar pain, of nights filled with nothing but tears at the prospect of living. Nines supposed then he shouldn’t have been too surprised at Gavin’s response when he first woke up.

Not knowing what sort of response he would get, Nines decided to ask, “So who are you, Gavin?”

Gavin smirked, and started walking out of the kitchen towards the living room. “Guess you’ll have to find out,” he said and gave a small sarcastic curtsy as he walked away. 

Nines blinked a few times as he watched him walk into the bathroom. He was having trouble processing this new information, and that thought made him realize just how similar androids and humans really were. He stood against the counter, nursing his coffee for a minute before Scout finally whined and poked his hand with her nose. 

“Alright,” he chuckled and got her breakfast. 

It didn’t take long for either of them to get ready, with Gavin being an android and not having much to do before he started his day, and Nines being somewhat of a minimalist, they were walking out to Nines’ car only thirty minutes later. As the elevator dinged on their floor Nines saw Ben down the hall about to lock up his apartment and presumably was about to walk down to the elevator. Not wanting to navigate that uncomfortable situation, Nines hurriedly ushered Gavin into the elevator and pressed the close door button a few times. He breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator began its decent with Ben nowhere in sight. 

“He your ex or something?” Gavin asked.

“What? No!” Nines said a little more defensively than he should have. It was the truth but Nines’ heartrate still shot up tenfold and he hoped Gavin wasn’t scanning him. The elevator dinged before he could dwell on why he cared what Gavin thought about his relationship with Ben.

In a few steps they were out of the apartment building and heading to Nines’ car. Before Nines could even open his door, Gavin was laughing under his breath. Clearly his social protocols needed updating if he thought he was being anything but subtle. 

“What?” Nines said in an accusatory tone.

“Oh, nothing,” Gavin said trying to compose himself.

Nines just stared in his direction and didn’t think he could peel his eyes away for a second even if he wanted to. The look on Gavin’s face was one that Nines never wanted to see disappear. 

“Fine,” Gavin said after another laugh. “You know how dogs look like their owners? Apparently they gotta extend that to cars too.” 

Nines glared at him as best he could, given how contagious Gavin’s smile was. “Very funny,” he deadpanned which only seemed to make Gavin chuckle more. 

They climbed into the car and before Nines turned on the engine he said, “That’s how I got Scout.”

“What?” Gavin asked, managing to hide his smile again.

“Scout. I got her as a present from my dad because he said she reminded him of me,” Nines said, his tone melancholic.

Picking up on Nines’ social cues, Gavin turned serious. “Oh… is he…” he trailed off.

“What?”

“Um… is he still around?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific with that,” Nines said, starting to get frustrated.

“Is he dead?” Gavin spat out, his own frustration creeping into his voice.

“No. But he’s not around,” Nines replied.

“Now it’s your turn to be a little more specific,” Gavin retorted.

“He’s just not in my life anymore, Gavin,” Nines finally snapped. He didn’t realize when he had grabbed the steering wheel but now he noticed his knuckles were white in their grip around it. He clenched his jaw in an attempt to keep his anger at bay and took a few deep breaths. 

“I…” Nines started after calming down a bit. “I promised I would tell you whatever you wanted to know. And if you still want to know about this I’ll tell you, just… not right now, ok?” he asked. Gavin nodded, and the two remained silent as Nines started the car. It was quiet between them for the whole drive except for the radio Gavin turned on about five minutes into the trip. 

Even though it was tense, Nines didn’t mind the silence, it gave him a chance to think. He had so many questions he wanted to ask Gavin. He also used the time to brace for Gavin’s resistance to his questions. After talking about his own past for barely a few minutes, Nines didn’t want to pressure Gavin. Before they pulled up to the junkyard he promised himself he wouldn’t let his curiosity come before Gavin. 

“Shit,” Nines mumbled to himself as they pulled into the lot.

“What?”

“I meant to fix my wagon last night so we wouldn’t have to do so much lifting,” Nines said and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Maybe I could take a look at it?” Gavin offered. Nines raised a brow at him but shrugged figuring it would do no harm.

“Sure,” he said and got out of the car. He went around to the trunk of the car and heard Gavin shut the passenger door behind him. He pulled out the frame of the wagon and investigated the broken joint. Without the proper tools he had no idea how Gavin was going to go about fixing it, unless he had tools hidden under his fingertips.

“This it?” Gavin asked as he walked up behind Nines. He nodded and handed it over to Gavin. “Yeah I remember this little tumble. Glad I couldn’t feel anything,” he said with a huff.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Nines said, embarrassed. 

“Eh, no worries,” Gavin said and inspected the wagon for myself. He pursed his lips in thought for a moment before saying, “Got any duct tape?” Nines raised an eyebrow but nodded and moved to find the roll in the glove compartment. He brought it back to Gavin who took the roll and started taping up the broken joint.

Nines huffed out a humorless laugh, “You really think some duct tape is gonna fix it?”

“Not entirely, no,” Gavin stated. “You clearly don’t know how these things work. The only thing technically broken here is the joint itself. The barriers and levitation device only shut down as a failsafe when one of the joints break. Fix the joint and I should be able to go around that failsafe and turn it back on.”

Nines eyes widened and even though Gavin didn’t turn to look at him he could still sense his disbelief. “You know I was made for detective work, right?”

Nines’ jaw snapped back shut and he exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Without another word Gavin finished taping up the wagon and the skin around his white chassis retreated quickly. Nines had only seen an android interface a few times before and it was fascinating to watch every time. The way the tanned skin gave away to a blue light and then to white and grey plastic was nothing short of artistic. Although he hated to admit it, Kamski was an artist.

Within a few seconds after interfacing, the light beams on the side of the wagon began to glow again, and it slowly levitated off the ground.

“Nice work, detective,” Nines said and pat Gavin’s back before grabbing the handle of the wagon. He shut the trunk of his car and began walking to the entrance of the junkyard when he noticed the android wasn’t following him. He turned back around to find a frozen Gavin standing in the same place he left him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked walking back over to him and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Please,” Gavin began but his voice box was filled with static. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” His words came out in choppy syllables. Nines immediately removed the hand from his shoulder and winced at just how naïve he was.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry. Is it… because of…?”

Gavin could only nod in response.

“Is there anything I can do?” Nines asked in a whisper.

Gavin shook his head and took a deep breath. He could hear his internal fans that were whirring at a maximum slow down. “No. Just don’t touch me, please.” Nines tried not to let the shock show on his face at Gavin saying ‘please.’ He never thought he’d hear that word come out of Gavin’s mouth, so he knew he must be dead serious. 

“Of course,” he whispered. He reached back into the car for a moment and at arm’s length handed Gavin a beanie to hide his LED. He took it, making sure their hands made no contact, and pulled it over his ears. Nines straightened up with the wagon and asked at a more normal volume, “Are you ok to go or should we wait?”

With one more deep breath the determined, self-assured asshole was back. “Let’s go, dipshit,” he said and walked past Nines. Rolling his eyes, Nines followed to the security gate. Unfortunately for him, the kid that was working there the other night was now replaced by a more competent looking woman.

“Can I help you?” she asked as they approached. Nines tried to subtly give Gavin a look that said ‘let me do the talking’ before responding.

“Hi, I’m here with the DPD. We’re running an investigation and needed to sample some android parts,” Nines said in his most diplomatic voice. Gavin scoffed at it which sent daggers from Nines’ eyes hurling towards him. 

“Badge?” the woman asked.

“Of course.” Nines reached into his pocket and showed her the badge. She inspected it for a second before squinting her eyes at both Gavin and Nines. 

“Alright,” she said although her tone very much sounded like she did not think letting them enter was alright.

“Thank you,” Nines said nonetheless and began walking past the piles of junk. Gavin followed close behind as they walked the long trek back to where the androids would be.

As they began their descent down the hill, Gavin said, “Sheesh, most of this stuff is older than you are, meat sack.”

“Ninety eight,” Nines responded, focusing more on where his feet were landing than on the conversation. 

“What?”

“1998. That’s when this junkyard was first formed.”

“Huh, and how do you know that?”

Nines stopped abruptly, almost making the android run into his back, and pointed at the sign.

“Need any more explaining, detective?” Nines said putting the emphasis on the last word. 

Gavin scowled at him, and now in the broad daylight, it accentuated the scarring across the bridge of his nose. He wished he could go back in time and fix his mistake.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” Gavin grumbled and walked past Nines.

“Fair enough,” Nines chuckled and moved to walk next to the android so they were side by side. Nines noticed Gavin’s hands rooted firmly in his pockets. He somewhat mimicked him and crossed his arms behind his back as they walked. “That reminds me though,” Nines began, “about our compromise.”

Gavin groaned and Nines rolled his eyes. That interaction felt like the entirety of their brief relationship wrapped up into one moment. “Come on, we both get something out of this. Besides, we’ve got a long ways to walk before we find those androids.” 

Gavin grumbled something unintelligible under his breath before speaking more clearly, “Fine. Shoot.”

Nines nodded in approval of Gavin’s compliance and asked the first question that came to his head. “So you are a detective model.”

“That doesn’t sound like a question.”

“Would you let me finish? This will go a lot faster if we don’t interrupt each other,” Nines asked exasperatedly. “You’re a detective model but I never saw any GV200’s at the precinct. Why’s that?”

“I’m a prototype,” Gavin said simply enough, as if that was the entire answer.

“…And?” Nines prompted.

“And what? What more do you want to know?”

“That barely answered my question, Gavin.”

“Fine,” Gavin grumbled again. Nines noticed his leather jacket stretch tighter around his shoulders and he bet that if Gavin added any more pressure, his hands would shoot straight through the leather in his pockets. “I’m not a unique prototype, five of us were made. They spread us out across five precincts in more rural areas not too far from here. They wanted to see how we’d do before sending a bunch of us into the middle of the city,” Gavin finished with a shrug. 

“Thank you,” Nines said with genuine politeness in his voice. Gavin only grunted in response. Gavin had been watching where he was walking until now and his eyes light up like a Christmas tree as he looked to Nines.

“My turn,” he said almost mischievously.

“Go for it.”

Gavin’s excitement quickly turned serious as he pursed his lips, the question hanging on his tongue. “Why’d you, ya know, repair me?”

Nines chuckled humorlessly before he spoke, “Damn, getting straight to the tough questions, huh?” But Gavin didn’t respond, he only stared up at Nines with what he could only describe as puppy dog eyes. But even that wasn’t quite right. Something about Gavin’s demeanor was more cat like. But then again, kitty cat eyes doesn’t have the same ring to it. “Do you mean why’d I do it, or why’d I choose you specifically?”

“Both,” Gavin stated.

“Of course,” Nines muttered under his breath but he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that Gavin couldn’t hear it. “Well I guess I’ll start with the first question. Um,” Nines trailed off, taking a moment to figure out exactly where to start. They walked a few yards as Nines got his thoughts together, and he was pleasantly surprised at Gavin’s patience. Not once did he prod for a quicker response.

“It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll try to spare you the details. I guess I’ll start with when I first moved to Detroit. It was an easy decision to move here, but actually living here… was a bit tougher. No one tells you how hard it is to meet people as an adult,” Nines said with a nervous chuckle. He could feel Gavin’s eyes on him but he kept his own pointed down at his feet. “I’ve been here for a good while and I just… I just wanted a friend if I’m being honest,” he finished with a whisper. Gavin hummed beside him but didn’t say anything right away. 

Nines couldn’t bring himself to say anything else so he waited a minute to hear Gavin’s response. “So, you rebuilt me because you wanted a friend?” he asked. 

Nines nodded sheepishly. “Yeah. Is that ok?”

Their eyes finally met and Nines saw so much in those cool eyes looking back at him. There was some pity and confusion swirling around his irises, but the most prominent thing Nines saw was understanding. He held his breath as Gavin said in genuine honesty, “I don’t know.” Nines nodded but he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. It wasn’t an outright rejection but speaking about his circumstances out loud brought embarrassment and shame to the front of his mind. 

They walked a few more steps before Gavin asked, “So what’s your favorite color?”

“What?” Nines asked with a laugh, happy to break the tension that had formed between them.

“If we’re trying to be friends I think I should at least know that,” Gavin said with a smile on his face he was clearly trying to hide. 

“Oh,” Nines said and it felt like a million butterflies driving a million trucks crashed into his stomach all at once. Suddenly it was hard to think as Gavin waited for an answer. “Um, blue, I think.”

“You think?”

“I mean sometimes it changes,” Nines said with a laugh and it was like a breath of fresh air hearing the same reaction from Gavin. Nines wished he had his tape recorder with him so he could document Gavin’s laugh forever. “What’s yours?”

“Green,” Gavin stated confidently. 

“Green’s a nice color,” Nines said thoughtfully.

“So is blue,” Gavin said. 

They walked a few more feet before Gavin spoke up again. “So I’ve got another question.”

“But you just asked the last two!” 

“Ok, but have you thought of a question for me yet?”

Nines pursed his lips. “Yes and no.”

“Fuck, are you ever capable of giving a clear cut answer?” Gavin said with no malice evident in his tone. 

“Sorry,” Nines said shyly. “I guess no then.”

“I guess is not clear cut,” Gavin said teasingly.

“Jesus, fine. No, I don’t have a question for you yet.”

“That’s better,” Gavin praised and Nines felt his own temperature rise another degree. “Don’t worry this one shouldn’t be too tough a question,” Gavin said and poked him in the ribs with his elbow. Nines nearly toppled over at the contact; not because it was a particularly hard push or that Nines was that clumsy, but rather because it seemed so out of place for Gavin. In the short time they had been there, he was slowly learning Gavin’s boundaries: anyone touching Gavin – need explicit permission, Gavin touching anyone else – good. Nines smiled and nodded for Gavin to continue.

“Ok. Wanna explain how the fuck my face got like this?” he asked with a chuckle and looked to Nines who was blushing profusely. 

“Um, yeah,” Nines began awkwardly. “So, when I found you, you kinda, uh, had this sheet of metal stuck in your face.”

Gavin raised a brow at that. “Ok, but I also had lacerations across my body when you found me, but I didn’t find any scars there.”

Fuck. “I’m sorry, the equipment I was using was working fine until it short circuited when I got to your nose, and it scarred before I could tell what was happening, and I tried to look up a video on how to code out scars to fix it but it just made it worse, and-”

“Relax,” Gavin said, interrupting Nines’ rambling. “I’m not that mad about it. More curious than anything really,” he reassured Nines.

Frowning, Nines said, “That still doesn’t mean I’m any less sorry for it.” They both went quiet again after that but Nines started recognizing familiar piles of junk and knew they were getting close.

“We’re almost there… I bet the sheet of metal is still out here if you wanna see it?”

Gavin grinned. “Sure.” 

They needed only walk for another minute before Nines found himself in the exact same place he was a few nights ago. He stopped, and Gavin followed suit. “Oh, here it is,” Nines said and walked towards a particularly tall pile of junk. The sheet of metal appeared much smaller than Nines remembered it but it was definitely the same one. He could still see Gavin’s imprint in the dirt from rotting there for a year. 

“Put it in the wagon,” Gavin said with a shrug. Nines raised a brow at him to which he simply responded, “A keepsake.” Nines didn’t question it further and put the metal in the wagon as told. He took another step before he gulped at the sight before him.

“We’re here,” Nines said quietly as they looked out at the carnage. It wasn’t any prettier in the daylight. Android parts were still scattered in heaps in the dirt only now Nines could see their injuries more clearly. It made his stomach twirl and he decided to look at Gavin instead. His nostrils were flared and his brows were set low on his eyes. “Are you okay?” Nines asked, resisting the urge to reach out to him.

“I’m fine,” Gavin said, his previously playful demeanor now replaced with a stone cold glare. 

“How do you want to-”

“Just,” Gavin spat at him. It stung more than it probably should have. Nines hoped Gavin’s anger wasn’t aimed at him directly, but part of him felt like it was. “Just let me do this. Alone. Ok?” He didn’t wait for Nines’ response and set out to find androids to bury. 

Nines stood at the wagon and obeyed Gavin’s wish. It didn’t take Gavin long to find three androids to pile into the wagon before he gestured for Nines to follow him further into the junkyard to find more. Nines watched in awe as Gavin effortlessly lifted the bodies and placed them gently in the cart. Nines shouldn’t – he knew he shouldn’t – this was a very morbid, emotional moment for Gavin, but Nines was only human. He’d always found Gavin beautiful, it was what led him to picking Gavin out of the junkyard in the first place, but seeing his muscles flex under his leather jacket had Nines’ heart pumping harder and his mind wandering farther. 

“That’s all that will fit,” Gavin said, hoisting the last body into the wagon with ease. In a daze, Nines stared as he filled the wagon. “Hey,” Gavin said and snapped in front of Nines’ face. He practically flinched out of his skin at the sudden interruption and could feel sweat run down his neck at being caught staring. 

“S-sorry,” Nines muttered and turned his focus to the wagon. “Are you ready, then?” Nines asked. Gavin nodded, and Nines tried to give him a small reassuring smile but it did nothing to dampen the frown on Gavin’s face. They walked in silence on the way back to the entrance. Nines wanted to say something to lighten the mood, but he wasn’t so sure Gavin would be receptive to it.

They had almost made it back to the security gate without uttering a word to each other. But the junk got denser the further they walked and before Nines knew it, he was tripping over a crowbar sticking out from one of the piles. He tensed up, waiting for the impact, but only gasped when he felt something pull him back. It knocked the wind out of him and he coughed as he caught his breath while still dangling from the ground.

“You’ve got about two more seconds to get your feet back under you,” Gavin practically growled. It took Nines a second to realize that Gavin stopped him from landing face first on god knows what. His arms were wrapped around him and he looked up at his savior momentarily who looked more furious than he’d ever seen him. Realizing what he just said, even though it was definitely longer than two seconds, Nines fumbled around trying to get his feet out from under him. Nines noticed Gavin’s touch linger right until the moment he was sure Nines was no longer in danger of falling over. Then, as soon as they came to his rescue, his hands were shoved back into his pockets, but not before Nines got a glimpse of his skin retracting around his knuckles which were tensed from balling his hands into fists. In other circumstances he might tease him about it, but with how Gavin must be feeling, Nines kept it to himself.

They left the junkyard with ease as the guard was now intently reading a book. She looked up at the two briefly as they approached the gate before rolling her eyes and letting them pass. Silently, the two detectives hauled the broken androids into the back of Nines’ car. Nines made sure to avoid touching Gavin at all costs as they hoisted the last one in together. Gavin shut the trunk after placing the folded up wagon into the back as well, but kept a hand on the handle. Nines noticed and raised a brow at him when he made no attempt to get in the car himself. 

“Do you…” Gavin started then trailed off. He was looking intently at the pavement, not daring make eye contact.

“Yes, Gavin?” Nines asked quietly.

“Do you think you could, uh… oh, never mind,” he muttered and started to make his way to the passenger seat. But Nines wouldn’t have that. Today was supposed to be about communicating with each other, and “never mind” didn’t really fit that agenda. 

“Gavin, what is it?” Nines asked as he followed him. The android stopped at the passenger side door and barely turned around to face him. “What do you want me to do?”

“What you did for me,” Gavin said quietly without elaborating further. Nines’ eyebrows furrowed and he was going to question further until he realized exactly what Gavin was asking.

“Oh,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Gavin grumbled and before Nines could react he was getting in the car. Gavin slammed the door in Nines’ face before he could say anything in response. With a heavy sigh, Nines walked around the car to the driver’s seat. He got in, but before he started the car, stated, “I would if I could, Gavin. But I can’t save everyone.”

“Ok, not everyone, then. What about just them?” Gavin sneered and jabbed his thumb back towards the pile of dead androids piled in the back of his car. 

“Gavin, I-”

“Forget it,” Gavin interrupted when Nines’ tone wasn’t a hopeful one. He crossed his arms over his chest, and Nines took that cue to mean he wouldn’t be talking for the rest of their trip. Without another word, Nines put the car in drive and headed for the highway. 

Luckily, it was only a cloudy day. Detroit was in that weird time where it could snow, rain, or be seventy degrees on any given day. But today was mild, and Nines was grateful for it as he prepared himself for what they were about to do. When Gavin had first mentioned wanting to give some androids a proper burial, Nines immediately knew the place to do it. They clearly couldn’t go to a proper graveyard and have a whole professional ceremony for them, but Nines remembered a place he’d visited after one of his first cases as a detective.

It was his first homicide case, and at that time he wasn’t the hardened detective he was now. He still cursed Fowler for putting him on the case. Even the seasoned detectives like Anderson thought it was odd to be sending a rookie out on a case like this, but Fowler insisted. He saw how capable and skilled Nines was, and knew he’d do well to solve the case. What he didn’t account for was the emotional toll it would have on Nines. If he was being honest, he blocked out most of the details from the crime scene since then, but he did get flashes of imagery every now and then, almost all of them including a disgusting amount of blood. 

After his work at the scene was done, he stepped outside for a smoke. His hands had trembled as he lit the cigarette but he didn’t care. They all knew this was a case he shouldn’t have been put on, and this weakness was just proof of that. He stood outside in the cold by himself because, frankly, no one knew how to handle Nines. He had been at the precinct for long enough that no one really liked him besides Tina. But at that point she was still an officer, and wasn’t at the scene. She would have known how to help him, had she been there. But even standing outside the warehouse with not a soul around, Nines still felt overcrowded. So he took a walk through the woods.

It was almost like the trees were inviting him in. There was no set hiking trail or an established path of any kind, but everywhere Nines stepped it was like the trees were telling him where to land his feet. It wasn’t long until he found himself in a beautiful meadow. It was late, so the moonlight was casting brilliant shadows behind the trees and the flowers were just starting to show signs of morning dew. Without thinking twice, Nines let himself fall back into the grass and stared up at the stars. Even though he had experienced one of the most traumatic experiences of his career just an hour ago, he managed to find a small sliver of peace in that forest. He would have let himself fall asleep there if he could, but before long he could hear Anderson shouting for him beyond the trees. 

Now, as he pulled into the lot behind the warehouse, he wished he was returning to that meadow on brighter circumstances. 

“A fucking warehouse?” Gavin exclaimed.

“No,” Nines said quietly, ignoring Gavin’s anger. “In the forest, there’s a nice place.” At both Nines’ words and his tone, Gavin’s anger subsided, even if the change was minuscule.

As they hopped out of the car, Nines checked his watch. It was probably going to be late by the time they finished. Maybe he would get to see those moonlit shadows again.

The two detectives loaded the androids back into the wagon easily enough. Nines went to hand Gavin the shovels when the android snickered.

“No, nuh-uh. You fell into a ditch and nearly impaled yourself on a rusty crowbar back there,” Gavin said and without further ado pushed the shovels back into Nines’ hands while grabbing the handle of the wagon for himself. Nines rolled his eyes, but Gavin had a point. He took the shovels without putting up a fight, and after locking up the car, nodded for Gavin to follow him. 

It wasn’t exactly how Nines remembered it. The brush was thicker, but there were less bugs given the colder weather. The sunlight gave everything a brilliant glow which was a stark contrast to the ethereal calm the moonlight cast on the meadow at night. But at the same time some things remained the same. The inviting nature of the path along with the refreshing, wet, earthy smell were all friendly and inviting to Nines’ senses. The entire walk through the woods he wanted to turn around and talk Gavin’s ear off about why he loved this place. He wanted to share the beauty of this place with him but, under the circumstances, he knew that would never happen. 

When they finally reached the clearing Nines sighed. It was as beautiful as ever. The flowers were no longer in bloom but the lingering colored leaves made the whole scene look warm and inviting despite the forty two degree temperature. 

“Wow,” he heard Gavin whisper behind him. 

Nines smirked and whispered, “Yeah, I know,” under his breath. 

“Are you sure you wanna bury them here?” Gavin asked.

Nines turned around and raised a brow at the android. It was hard to believe he was an android sometimes, especially after a comment like that. The rare few times he has shown true empathy confused Nines in a way that only made him want to know more about his past.

“I don’t mind, really. They deserve to be buried in a place like this. Don’t you think?” he asked.

Gavin nodded and reached out for a shovel from Nines. In total Gavin could only find five androids that were mostly intact. Nines noticed the one being the EM400 that he was originally going to choose over Gavin, but he kept that information to himself. They measured out where the graves were to be buried and then they both set to work on digging. Even though Nines worked out nearly every other day, his back started to ache about three quarters of the way through the first hole. When he looked up he saw Gavin was already halfway through his second with no signs of slowing down. Curse you, never ending android stamina. By the time Nines finished his first, Gavin was already starting his third. Letting out a determined huff, Nines set to work on the second grave. When he was about halfway through, Gavin approached him.

“Do you want help?” he asked. Nines looked up and oh dear was that a mistake. Gavin had rolled his sleeves up past his elbows, his hair was slightly disheveled, and his large, dirt speckled hands were resting gently against his hips. The blush that was certain to creep its way up to his cheeks made Nines want to crawl into the hole he was digging.

“No, Gavin, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? It won’t take lo-”

“I said, I’m fine, Gavin,” Nines said more forcefully. He didn’t entirely mind that androids could do things more efficiently than any human could, but he was stubborn enough to want to finish something for himself that he started himself. The android backed off with a shrug and went to sit cross legged in the field not too far away. Nines could feel Gavin’s eyes on him, but he tried to ignore it as he finished the last of the digging. The sun was beginning to set, and along with it came the cool evening breeze which helped Nines finish the task quicker. Golden hour was just upon them when he finished, and he looked up to find Gavin had already buried four of the five androids, and was waiting patiently for Nines to finish. Nines fought the urge to roll his eyes as he stepped out of the way for Gavin to finish the job. He did it seamlessly and effortlessly, making sure the android was properly nestled in the ground before delicately placing the earth back on top of them. Nines stood back and watched, and Gavin went to join him when he was finished. They stood side by side in silence for a few moments as the golden hour made the scene before them even more beautiful.

Gavin cleared his throat and said, “To be honest, I’ve never actually seen a funeral before. Are we supposed to say something?”

Nines looked over to him and nodded. “Typically, yes. But if you don’t know what to say I could try saying something?” Gavin hesitated before eventually nodding. 

Thinking back to the few funerals he had been to in his life, Nines began. “I didn’t know these and-… people. I didn’t know these people, but I do know they deserved better. No one should be left to die alone, like they were. There’s so much we don’t know about the world, but that one thing is certain. And as we go back out into the world, I personally want to do everything in my power to make sure no one else ever experiences the same fate. They deserved better, and it is with the highest hopes that I say I wish them a restful, peaceful, eternal sleep.” Nines looked over to Gavin only to look down in confusion. At some point in his speech Gavin had sat down in the grass with his knees tucked under his chin. He looked so incredibly small from that angle. Nines took his time taking in the rare sight which was so different from his usual overcompensating attitude. He looked genuinely tired. 

Nines sat down next to him with his legs crossed but made sure he was not touching the android. “I’m sorry, did what I said upset you?” Nines asked, unsure of what else to say. 

Gavin shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I, uh… It’s just a lot to take in, ya know?” Before Nines could say anything back, Gavin was leaning back with his hands behind his head to lay down in the cool grass. It seemed as if Gavin was looking at something specific, and Nines realized the first few stars were just starting to make themselves visible. Cautiously, he followed Gavin’s lead and lied back in the grass as well. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, just watching the sun disappear and the night sky starting to creep out. 

After what could only have been fifteen minutes, Gavin spoke up.

“I was undercover,” he began. Nines turned to look at him and hummed in confusion. Gavin continued to stare at the sky as he continued. “They assigned me to what they thought was a relatively low risk case. They wanted to test how one of us would do in a solo mission,” he said with a scoff.

Realizing what Gavin was saying, Nines intervened. “Gavin, I know what we said before, but you don’t have to do this right no-”

“No,” Gavin interrupted. “I made you a promise. Besides, you’re right. If I’m going to be living with you, at least for the time being, it is probably better that you know,” he said quietly, still refusing to look at the detective. Nines didn’t say anything further and let Gavin continue.

“I was excited. Back then, I wanted so badly to prove to them that we could do anything a human could do, if not do it better. I was ecstatic when they chose me to do it. Apparently, I was showing the most promise out of the five of us. It seemed like a clear cut case, even to everyone I consulted with. A string of robberies led me to a few leads. I go to interview this one man and turns out he was the criminal all along. But…” Gavin trailed off and Nines could visibly see him tense up. 

“Take your time,” Nines said quietly, unsure if that was the right thing to say, or if there even was one right thing to say in this situation. Nines could hear Gavin’s internal fans whirring at a fast rate and Gavin’s breaths almost sounded like static. 

“But,” Gavin eventually continued, “this was not the cut and dry case everyone thought it was. Dude was a monster, a literal monster. I went to his house to interview him, and the sick bastard could tell I was going to figure it out – didn’t even break a sweat. He knew he was toying with me.” Gavin paused again to take another breath, but this time Nines kept quiet. “He could see the wheels turning in my head the more he answered my questions. My LED gave me away when I figured it out. The second that fucking thing went red he had his guard droid restrain me. I deviated right then and there. But this dude was huge, bigger than anybody I’d ever seen. Fuckers at the precinct didn’t give me any way to defend myself. I tried to fight but this guy outfought me by a long shot. Soon enough he forced a probe, and then I was unconscious.” 

Another breath.

“Next thing I know, I’m waking up next to a bunch of other androids in this fucker’s basement. He considered himself a scientist, but he was really a murderer. He was stealing things in order to conduct his experiments on us. You saw everything for yourself so I won’t get into that. But next thing I know, I’m being tossed out, still conscious, with that murderer’s blood in my veins.” The end of the sentence was almost indecipherable it was laced with so much static. 

“Gavin, I’m so sorry,” Nines whispered. He was at a loss for words but had a million questions still running in his head. The mind reader picked up on it.

Gavin finally looked up at Nines, and as he got the static in his voice under control, he said, “It’s fine if you have questions. If we’re already going there, might as well go all the way.”

“I do have questions, but anything you don’t wanna answer you don’t have to.” Gavin nodded and Nines continued. “So, if you were being tested for a solo mission, why did they not go looking for you?”

“Honestly I asked myself that same question for a long time. At least until I came to the conclusion that they didn’t actually want androids in the office. They were ordered to work with us as they tested our abilities, but it wasn’t their fault if we failed. I…” Gavin trailed off before his voice got more panicked. “Fuck, Nines, I killed the other four,” Gavin’s voice was filled with static as Nines noticed his shoulders trembling a little bit and blue liquid building up at the corners of his eyes. 

“Shh, Gavin, no. You didn’t. None of this is your fault,” Nines said in a calming whisper. 

“You don’t understand,” Gavin mumbled clearly trying to hide the static. 

“I might not understand your situation directly, but I do know what it’s like to lose someone because you failed them,” Nines said.

Gavin raised a brow and looked at Nines expectantly. 

“I was eighteen. It was the day after I graduated high school when I sat my parents down for a talk. I told them I’m gay, they told me I’m no longer their son. Haven’t spoken to them since. Well, mostly anyways. My dad has been trying to reach out, but, yeah…” Nines trailed off. He looked back up to the sky as he felt his face heat up. “Sorry, you probably didn’t wanna know that,” he said with a humorless chuckle. 

“No, it’s… thank you,” was all Gavin could manage to say. Seemingly out of nowhere, a tentative hand reached out to Nines’ arm right below his wrist. He didn’t dare move. It was the only comforting gesture Gavin could really do with the positions they were in, and he was not about to hold hands. Nines let Gavin run his thumb across the hair on his arm. Gavin’s motions were tentative, curious, in a way that Nines wasn’t entirely prepared for. 

“Thank you,” Gavin whispered again. 

“You’re welcome,” Nines whispered back as they both stared up at the stars that were now in full view. They didn't dare look at each other as blue and red heated their cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos! I appreciate it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was so much fun! Also I added how many chapters this work should be at the least. But I still have a lot of ideas that might end up being too long and I’ll have to split them up into multiple chapters, so there could be more than 13 chapters in total, we’ll just have to wait and see.
> 
> Couple of new tags have been added. Let me know what you think of the chapter/the work as a whole in the comments!

CHAPTER 6

“What the fuck?” Nines grumbled under his breath as he sat up in his bed. In bright green numbers, the clock on his bedside table read 11:42 PM. He’d only been asleep for about a half hour when the banging abruptly woke him up. 

Not a moment later, a wide eyed Gavin was sneaking into his room. Before Nines could process what was happening, the android was displaying holographic text from his palm: ANDROID AT DOOR. NEED TO HIDE. Nines rubbed the sleep from his eyes and read the message again before another bang at the door snapped him awake. Nines nodded and shuffled out of the sheets. Once stood, he held the blanket up, gesturing for him to get in. Gavin tilted his head slightly and gave him a look to which Nines rolled his eyes. Nines absolutely didn’t want to but he was about two seconds away from shoving Gavin in there himself when another bang on the door had the android hopping into the bed without another moment’s notice. Nines brought his palms together and put his hands under his cheeks. Gavin gave him another incredulous look when Nines mouthed, “just pretend,” hoping he’d understand before stepping out into the living room. 

Nines tiptoed his way over to the door and grabbed his gun from his holster where it hung in the entryway. He held it in both hands tentatively when he dared to peek through the peephole. On the other side of the door was an android dressed in a grey jacket with a blue armband. Nines rolled his eyes possibly harder than he ever had in his life, and set his gun back in its holster. He ripped open the door and tried his best to glare at the android in his sleepy state.

“What the fuck do you want, Connor?” Nines asked exasperatedly. 

“Good evening, detective. You called in sick today,” Connor said with innocent puppy dog eyes.

“Your point?” Nines retorted trying his best not to slam the door right back into his clone’s face.

“I was checking to make sure you’re alright,” Connor stated matter-of-factly. 

“I’m fine, goodnight,” Nines said in his annoyance. He went to shut the door on him when Connor stuck his foot in the way before he could. 

“Your heartrate is elevated, detective. Are you sure there is nothing I can assist you with?”

“Because you started banging on my door in the middle of the night! Now please, run along back to Hank-”

“There’s another android here,” Connor said interrupting him and fully stepping into the entryway. 

Panicking, Nines stuttered out, “Uh, y-yeah.”

“My records indicate you do not own an android, detective. What is one doing here?” Connor asked, looking at Nines suspiciously. 

“It’s my dad’s. I told him I’d fix some of its coding. Cheaper than Cyberlife techs,” Nines said. He was shocked at how easily the lie left his lips.

Connor raised a brow at him. “My records indicate that your relationship with your parents is-”

“Fuck your fucking records! Get the fuck out!” Nines yelled at the android. Upon hearing the pure anger in Nines’ voice, Connor backed out into the hallway.

“I will you see you at work, det-” but the slamming of the front door drowned out the last of the sentence.

Nines turned and let his bare back lean against the door as he slowed his breathing. He looked over to see Scout only now waking up from her bed along the wall. He walked over to her to destress a bit before going back to sleep. “What a good guard dog,” he said sarcastically as he scratched the back of her head. She just smiled up at him, tongue dangling out of her mouth like she didn’t have a care in the world. After a few moments Nines stood up to head back into his bedroom. Not five seconds later he could already hear her snoring away. 

As he walked back into his bedroom he saw Gavin holding Nines’ softest blanket between his fingers and examining it closely. “Who was that?” he asked, not bothering to look up from the blanket.

“Just this asshole from work,” Nines said through a sigh. “What are you doing?”

At that Gavin looked up but then almost immediately averted his eyes again.

“I, um, I’ve never been in a bed before,” he said sheepishly. Nines eyebrows raised and his mouth formed into a small ‘o’ shape. He walked over to the side of the bed opposite of Gavin and stood there awkwardly.

“Too bad you couldn’t have gotten thrown onto a mattress out at Wally’s, huh?” Nines said through nervous laughter. Gavin glared at him and it was enough to make Nines shut up. “Uh, sorry,” he said awkwardly. Gavin didn’t respond and continued his investigation of the blanket. 

“Um, Gavin?” Nines asked timidly as he rested a knee on the edge of the bed. 

“Hmm?” Gavin asked, still oblivious.

Nines cautiously leaned across the bed to grab the blanket Gavin was fixating on to get his attention. It was cute seeing him like this, and Nines didn’t want to ruin it but he needed to get some sleep if he had any hope of functioning at work the next day. “I kinda need to go to bed,” Nines said. It took Gavin a second to pull his mind away from the blanket but when he processed what Nines had said he leapt out of the bed faster than was humanly possible. 

“Oh,” Gavin said flustered as he unsuccessfully tried to straighten out the blankets he had tousled. 

“It’s alright, Gavin,” Nines said around a little chuckle. Before Gavin left the room Nines offered, “You know, one of these nights when I don’t have to work the next morning, I’ll let you sleep here and I can sleep on the couch.” 

Gavin’s demeaner brightened at that which he immediately tried to cover up. “Hm,” he hummed trying to mask his excitement. As he left the room Nines crawled under the blankets where Gavin’s residual heat in the blankets soothed him into a dreamless sleep. 

The next day at work was overall uneventful, that was until he was about to go home for the day when he was called into another crime scene with Hank and Connor. That’s how he found himself driving to an android sex club on a weeknight. 

The Eden Club was impossible to miss with its bright neon signs offering the sexiest androids in town. Although he was there on a case, Nines felt a slight tinge of embarrassment as he walked towards the neon signs. It felt like all those signs were pointing straight at him as he walked up, making sure every passerby knew he was walking into a sex club. Before he could enter the hallway leading up to the doors he heard a commotion coming from one of the alleyways along the side of the building. Keeping his hand ready on his holster, Nines cautiously jogged to where he heard the noise. Even if it was unrelated to the case he was there for, he couldn’t ignore another potential crime happening just around the corner.

He ran as quietly as he could between the two buildings when the sound of the commotion led him around a corner. Not knowing what he’d be met with around the corner, Nines pulled out his gun and stood flush against the building. He cautiously leaned his head around the corner to see an odd sight. With the amount of scantily clad androids standing like statues in the distance, this must have been the loading and storage area for the Eden Club. However, that was not what Nines found unusual about the scene before him. Nines knew Hank and Connor were working a crime scene here – that’s why Nines was called in the first place – but seeing two Traci models thoroughly kicking their asses was a sight to behold in and of itself. 

Nines was about to move from his hiding spot to climb the chain link fence to help the duo but he saw Connor break free of the Tracis and draw his gun at them. Nines whipped his head back, afraid he might get shot considering with the angle at which Connor and the Tracis were standing. He put his own gun away knowing that Connor and Hank had a hold of the situation. Scrunching his nose, Nines braced himself for the inevitable sound of a gunshot, but was thoroughly surprised when it never came. Instead, he heard hushed voices coming from around the corner. He could hear what must have been one of the Tracis’ voices, and soon enough that sound was followed by that of heels clicking against pavement and then the clatter of a chain link fence. 

Nines heard a voice come closer. “She said the clues would lead us to the docs but we have to make sure-” but then the voice was interrupted as the two Tracis turned the corner and almost ran straight into Nines. Nines fumbled around trying not to lose his balance. Upon finding Nines, the two girls went into attack mode, readying their fists at the detective. Their previous encounter with his twin probably wasn’t helping the situation. Nines raised both hands, figuring that if his coworkers let them go, then that was probably for the best. But he was still on the clock.

“What’s Jericho?” he whispered to them. The two androids looked at each other, both LEDs blinking yellow. One of the Tracis, the one with short brown hair, shook her head at the blue haired Traci. They both looked back at Nines for a moment, and after assessing him to be of little threat, they ran as fast as they could away from him. 

“Where’s Jericho?” Nines exclaimed after them, and cursed quietly under his breath as they didn’t even bother to turn and look at him as they ran off. Nines sighed knowing it was of no use when he heard the soft clang of the chain link fence, like someone had just leaned with their hands against it.

“Detective Stern?” he heard Connor’s voice call out to him from around the corner. With a deeper, more annoyed sigh, Nines turned the corner to face his coworkers.

“The hell are you doing here?” Hank asked as he walked over from the loading dock’s entrance.

“I got assigned out here last minute. Was about to head in when I heard the fighting out here,” Nines deadpanned. 

“You let them go?” Connor asked. His tone was calm enough but he had a conflicted look on his face. 

“I trusted your judgement. Saw you let them go, and figured you must’ve had a good reason.”

“What was your reasoning, Connor?” Hank asked.

Connor’s eyebrows furrowed together and his lips flattened into a hard line. 

“I… I just couldn’t,” he said and did an about face to go back into the club, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation. Hank just shrugged.

“I gotta tie up some loose ends here. We’ll meet you out front,” he said. Nines nodded and they went their separate ways. He went back the way he came to the entrance of the club and decided to sit down at one of the benches outside. Now with the suspects gone there wasn’t much left for him to do on the case. Hank was wrapping things up inside and he could ask the walking encyclopedia if he had any questions about the details. So he sat outside and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Taking the first drag was a breath of fresh air. It had been a few days since he last smoked and it was a wonder he hadn’t been feeling the consequences that intensely. Sure he got a headache here and there, but who doesn’t? 

Sitting out there, with the bright lights of the club glowing behind him, reminded Nines of his first few years in the city. He had never ventured into any place like the Eden Club, but thinking back on it, he probably would have had a better time there than at the first club he ever attended. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, Nines went to one of the more exclusive night clubs in town. It was a real pretentious place where they let people in based on looks, but that was exactly the confidence boost Nines needed. Back in his hometown he knew how to wrap the small minded people in that shithole town around his finger. That’s probably why he managed to stay stealth about his sexuality for all those years. But city people were a different breed, one that Nines didn’t know how to tame. He felt like a fish out of water, not knowing where to start.

Being allowed access into that club was just the confidence boost he needed. He took a few shots at the bar before meandering into the crowd and dancing with whoever he came in contact with. At that point he didn’t really care who was touching him, so long as he had someone to grind on, he was happy. That was until he found himself dancing with the wrong person. After being passed around on the dance floor, Nines found himself in front of a huge man. Nines considered himself rather tall, but this man was enormous even compared to him. The detective (or at the time, the officer) didn’t have much of a type, so maybe it was the shots that had this man looking like the man out of every single one of his fantasies. Naturally, he did what he had been doing all night, and purposefully backed up into the man. 

Three seconds later, Nines flew face first into the dance floor. He heard a couple of gasps and felt the man pick him up by his collar. Nines’ ears were ringing but he thought he heard one of the bouncers try to break it up. But his relief at thinking he was getting help immediately turned to dread as he clearly heard the bouncer say to take it outside. Nines had blocked out the rest of the night, but from then on it didn’t stop him from going to clubs. Only now he made sure to go to the right ones. Since then, every back alley experience Nines had was a more pleasant one than when that man beat him to a pulp. It gave Nines a feeling of control, knowing he could lure the men from gay bars and have his way with them behind the building – all consensual, of course. It was exhilarating for a while until his body started catching up to him. From the physical demands of his job to the physical demands of his life outside the office, Nines had been worked raw. He had to make a compromise, and he couldn’t give up his job, so he never saw a back alley again. That didn’t mean Nines didn’t have his fun, but it most certainly slowed down and was in a stranger’s bed rather than on the concrete every other night. 

Sitting on that bench, Nines didn’t realize he was staring into space thinking about his past until he heard someone approach. His cigarette was halfway turned to ash when he looked up to see his reflection with a yellow light swirling at his temple. That same conflicted face still rested on his face. 

“Might I sit with you?” Connor asked and motioned to the bench.

“Knock yourself out,” Nines said before taking another drag of the cigarette.

It was quiet for a moment as Connor sat beside Nines on the bench. Nines had never seen someone sit up so straight before. He’d been living with his predecessor for a few days now and had never seen Gavin nearly that uptight before. Maybe that was a side effect of deviancy.

“You know that will kill you, right?” Connor asked. 

Nines shrugged. “So could a lot of things.” That response only seemed to deepen the crease between Connor’s eyebrows. 

“Are you feeling better?” Connor asked.

Nines rolled his eyes. “Yeah, no thanks to you barging into my apartment in the middle of the night,” he said with a scoff.

“My apologies, detective.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Nines grumbled and took another drag of his cigarette.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Something tells me you’re going to ask regardless of what I say.”

“Would you have shot those deviants?” 

Nines had never seen the android show so much… emotion before. It was weird seeing Connor with anything other than contentment on his face. He internally chuckled at the irony of the possibility of Connor being a deviant himself. 

“I don’t think I have all the information but they didn’t seem like a threat. Would they have helped the investigation if we could’ve brought them in? Probably. But if it’s between killing somebody – human or android – I always prefer to handle things with this still in its holster,” Nines said and patted the gun hanging across his hip. Connor nodded, seeming to take all of the information in. Nines had no doubt he was adding his response to whatever algorithm Cyberlife programmed him with on taking versus sparing a life. Knowing how Connor has reacted in previous cases, he wouldn’t be surprised if they scripted him to shoot first, ask questions later when it came to deviants. 

“I have another question,” Connor prompted.

“Why am I not surprised?” Nines said with a chuckle.

“When those Tracis were running away I heard you ask them about Jericho. What is Jericho?”

Without intending to, Nines froze. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to protect the idea of Jericho, whatever it was, but he felt the need to tell no one. “I’m honestly not sure,” Nines said truthfully. “It’s just something I heard them talk about as they were leaving.”

Connor tilted his head inquisitively. “Did they say anything else?”

Probably a little too quickly, Nines shook his head. “Not really. Just that they were looking for it.” Connor nodded at that and looked out at the street where a bus was passing by. Nines took the last drag of his cigarette before snuffing it out on the armrest of the bench. He really hoped Connor’s line of questioning was over because he didn’t know if he could take it any longer without a lungful of smoke. There were a lot of things these days he’d need a smoke for, and that idea got him thinking.

“Connor?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know much about your predecessor?” That caught Connor’s attention. He tried to shrug, emphasis on the word ‘tried.’ It was clearly his social protocols trying to imitate Hank, but it looked wrong coming from Connor, similarly to how it felt wrong to see his own face on another being. 

“Yes. What would you like to know?”

The question threw Nines for a loop. He wanted to know more about Gavin, but he didn’t know where to start – he didn’t know what he didn’t know. “Um, whatever you’ve got.” Connor raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t question him further. He pulled his left hand out where the skin retracted from it to show the white chassis, and the hologram started scrolling information on the model like showing credits at the end of a movie.

“The GV200 were prototype detective models only tested for use in more rural precincts. About three years ago only five of them were produced. They were sent out into the field one year later and were tested for about nine months. After failing to accomplish simple missions, Cyberlife recalled the GV200 and scrapped the line completely. They transferred the project to the engineers who had had success with models in the RK line and that is when I, the RK800 was produced.”

Nines nodded at the info and tried not to show that he knew most of that information already. Tapping his fingers along his knee he then asked, “I’m assuming that they had to keep at least some of the GV200’s code in you, but did they give you any of their memories?”

Connor shook his head. “Unfortunately not. The ability to upload memories to Cyberlife’s database was not a part of their functionality, and the accident that had them recalled mass corrupted their on board memory banks.” Nines hummed in understanding. He watched as Connor finished scrolling through the information in the hologram when he saw an image just before he closed out of it.

“Wait,” Nines said and pointed to Connor’s palm. “That picture, can I see it?” Nines asked. Connor had closed out of the hologram rather abruptly so Nines didn’t get the best view of it, but still in that small window of time Nines couldn’t help but notice something different from the face he was used to seeing every day. 

“I really don’t understand your fascination with the GV200 but if this will improve our working relationship – and therefore help the case, then certainly,” Connor said and pulled the hologram back up. It took him a second to scroll back through the data to find the photo but when he did it wasn’t what Nines was expecting. He had assumed that when Connor had originally closed out of the hologram it happened so fast that that was why Nines thought he had noticed a change. But no, this was a completely different android altogether. Sure there were some similar facial features between Gavin and the GV200 Connor was showing him, but everything else was different. The GV200 in the hologram had longer hair, a curvier figure, and large breasts. Unless they made two different male and female models, this couldn’t be Gavin. 

“Are you sure this is the GV200? Did they make any male models?” Nines asked Connor who only shook his head.

“No. The GV200 model is a woman based model. Now please, what has this got to do with the case, detective?” Connor asked but Nines mind was elsewhere. He didn’t give a flying fuck about what Connor had just unknowingly revealed to him but he did care about how he found out. He shouldn’t have asked Connor about Gavin in the first place. If he wanted to know more about Gavin he should have just asked him directly. 

“Fuck,” Nines mumbled under his breath before saying in a clearer tone, “Not this case. One from about a year ago. I got a new lead recently, and wanted to know. That’s all.”

“Does it have to deal with android crimes? Because Hank and I have been assigned to all cases involving-”

“No, Connor. Fuck, just drop it alright?” Nines said irritated. He shouldn’t be taking his frustrations at himself out on Connor but that’s all Nines knew how to do. He stood up and paced around for a bit.

“You know what, I think whatever it was I was feeling yesterday isn’t totally out of my system. I’m gonna head home. Tell Anderson I’ll deal with any paperwork or whatever in the morning,” Nines rushed to get the words out as he paced quickly over to his car before Connor could respond. He threw the keys into the ignition and raced out into the street. 

Fuck he felt like an idiot. Why did he have to be so goddamn nosey? If he wanted to know more about Gavin why didn’t he just talk to him like a normal human being? This is probably why he never found friends to begin with, he thought to himself. He was never good at making connections with people. Being vulnerable was difficult for anybody, but after bottling so much of himself for nearly half his life, it was a bit more difficult for Nines. 

He didn’t even care about what it was that Connor had revealed to him. It had never crossed his mind that androids – even when deviated – could be trans. But it was 2038 for fucks sake he didn’t care who was cis and who wasn’t, but coming out was and always has been something personal. And didn’t Nines know it. For half his life he feared someone even joking about him being gay, let alone actually outing him. Luckily it never happened but dammit if he wouldn’t have been devastated if it had. Now, as Nines was driving home, he had to brace himself for the uncomfortable situation he was bound to find himself in when he got home. 

Although Nines had raced home without thinking about it, the minute he pulled into the parking lot his movements felt like they were in slow motion. Taking the key out of the ignition, grabbing his bag from the passenger seat, punching the button for the elevator all felt like he was moving through mud to accomplish anything. 

The elevator dinged and soon enough Nines found himself in front of his apartment door. He fumbled with the keys for a minute before the door swung open on its own. Nines leaped a foot away, not expecting the android to answer the door without Nines so much as knocking.

“Fucking hell,” Nines said as he leaned over to place both hands on his knees to catch his breath.

“Fucking wuss,” Gavin said with a scoff. He reached for the back of his neck as he said, “Didn’t mean to scare you,” sounding a little more gentle.

“No, no, it’s alright,” Nines said and straightened his back again as he regained his breath. “Just wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome.”

“Alright, next time I’ll stick a chair under the doorknob, how’s that?” Gavin said and crossed his arms as he pouted his way back into the apartment. Nines followed him and watched as he perched himself back on the couch where there was a Gavin shaped imprint in the cushions. 

“Have you been watching movies all day?” Nines asked as he noticed the light from the TV was the only thing illuminating the room . He hung his coat on the hook and took off his shoes before making his way into the kitchen to find something for dinner. 

“Mhmm,” he heard Gavin hum from the living room. 

“Haven’t you like… I dunno, lost your mind yet?” Nines asked as he threw together a poorly constructed sandwich and went to sit by Gavin on the sofa. Maybe if he tried to make normal conversation he could ignore the guilt gnawing at his brain.

Gavin was flipping through Nines’ digital catalog when he said, “Not really. I’ve never seen a movie before today so they’re still rather fascinating to me.” If Nines’ mouth wasn’t full of food his jaw would have definitely hit the floor.

“You’ve never watched a movie before?” he asked after swallowing another bite. Gavin merely shook his head as he continued scrolling.

“Never really had the opportunity to. Unless you count training videos, which I don’t.”

“Tell me if this is a stereotype, but can’t you just download a movie in your head and watch it all at once?” Nines asked.

Gavin chuckled. “I’m not really sure if it’s a stereotype but you’re not wrong. I tried that at first but I didn’t really enjoy it that way. There was no suspense, no satisfying conflict. This is much more satisfying to watch it like this.” Nines couldn’t fully understand what he meant since he could not download a movie to his brain like Gavin could, but he did suppose he understood not enjoying a movie that lacked suspense altogether. 

“So what have you watched so far?” he asked after finishing the last bite of his sandwich. 

“Why do you care?” Gavin spat. Nines just gave him a look knowing that he was just in a mood.

“Fine,” Gavin conceded. “Forrest Gump, The Davinci Code, Pulp Fiction, Back to the Future, and Scooby Doo.”

Nines couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face. “Scooby Doo?”

“Fuck off, it’s a classic according to my research… I rather enjoyed it actually,” Gavin said still pouting but a small hint of blue started to tinge his cheeks.

“That’s adorable,” Nines said before he realized what he was saying. Trying to diffuse how awkward that was, Nines gathered his plate and his glass and quickly ran them out to the kitchen.

“What about the Wizard of Oz?” he suggested as he rinsed off the plate.

“Is it any good?” Gavin asked above the volume of the sink. 

Nines turned the water off and dried his hands on a towel as he moved to lean against the frame separating the kitchen and living room. “Yeah, it was one of my favorites growing up,” Nines said. 

“Must be pretty lame then, considering your taste.”

“My taste happened to pick you of all people at the junkyard so maybe you’re onto something.”

Gavin glared as the silence stretched on. “Watch it with me?” Gavin finally asked with a slightly hopeful tone. 

Nines smiled. “Sure,” he said and returned the towel back to the kitchen. The back and forth between them was starting to feel natural, like they’ve known each other for years. Nines couldn’t help the smile that crept its way onto his face thinking about how much progress they’d made so quickly. He’d have to mention it when he remembered to do another log. 

When he went back into the living room he plopped down on the sofa next to Gavin and sighed louder than he’d intended to. All the stress of the day hit him all at once and he suddenly felt exhausted as he settled into the cushions.

“Rough day at work?” Gavin asked.

With a humorless chuckle, Nines responded, “Yeah, you could say that,” and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Anything I could help you with?” 

“Uh,” Nines trailed off thinking about the last thing he did at work today. “No, that’s ok,” he settled on. He justified his cowardice with not wanting to ruin Gavin’s fun day. In his head he promised himself that he’d talk with Gavin about it first thing tomorrow morning. 

Gavin raised a brow at his response but didn’t question him further as he turned on the film. Nines slouched farther into the cushions and rested his feet up on the coffee table. He grabbed one of the throw pillows and held it against his chest.

“Is this a scary movie or something?” Gavin asked as he saw Nines hold the pillow under his nose.

“No,” Nines chuckled, “I’m just tired.”

“You’re not gonna fall asleep on me, are you?” Gavin asked teasingly. 

Nines shook his head and said, “No,” but the sleepy tone of his voice begged to differ. Gavin chuckled and relaxed beside him. Nines looked over and couldn’t help the dopey smile that crept its way on his face. Gavin was the most human android he’d ever met. Everything from his demeanor, to his mannerisms, to the way he slouched back into the couch. It was so very not android – a far cry from the RK800 – that Nines couldn’t help but stare in awe at him. 

As the opening sequence began Gavin kept his focus on the screen but asked teasingly, “Is there something in my direction that’s more interesting than the movie?” In his daze of taking in the sight of Gavin, Nines didn’t realize he accidentally leaned in too close for comfort. He immediately readjusted his weight to the complete opposite end of the couch. 

“S-sorry,” Nines apologized but cursed at himself internally for stuttering. When Gavin didn’t say anything, Nines looked back over at him to find a smirk on Gavin’s lips that he was failing at hiding. Not wanting his gaze to overstay its welcome again, he focused back on the TV as the characters went about their business in black and white. The shock from Gavin calling him out woke him up slightly, but as Dorothy began singing Nines found his eyes getting heavier and heavier.

Waking up from a stress nap was always disorienting. Nines had taken plenty since he started at the DPD but waking up from them never got easier. They always put Nines in a deep sleep that when he woke up it took him longer than normal to understand his surroundings. This nap was no different. When he opened his eyes, the Wizard was about to hand out his gifts to the traveling quartet. He went to sleep sitting straight up so why was the TV lopsided? Did Scout knock it over and it miraculously survived the fall? Nines didn’t let these questions take up too much of his mental capacity as his sleepy brain was much more focused on going back to sleep. So he blindly nestled back into his sleeping position and tried to readjust his pillow but something hard was blocking the way. He pushed at it a few times trying to move it out of the way so he could fluff the pillow again but as he pushed it, his pillow moved with it. He reluctantly opened his eyes knowing it would make going back to sleep that much harder, but froze when he saw what he was poking. 

Nines leapt away as fast as his groggy body would let him and put as much distance between himself and the android as the couch would allow.

“Fuck, Gavin, I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Nines said, suddenly breathless. But as he looked at the android’s LED it was alternating between blue and yellow, and not the angry red Nines had expected. 

“When I asked if you were going to fall asleep on me, this isn’t what I meant,” Gavin said quietly through a lung full of static.

“Fuck, Gavin, I know, I – at the junkyard you said not to – and I didn’t mean to I swear I – fuck why do I have to-”

“Hey,” Gavin interrupted and reached a hand out to touch Nines’ arm. In his frenzy he didn’t realize the android had moved closer to him. The shock of what Gavin was doing shut Nines up for a moment until it inevitably brought up more questions.

Voice still panicked, Nines said, “But at the junkyard, you said-”

“I know what I said, and I meant it. But there’s a difference. Then I wasn’t expecting it, but here,” Gavin scoffed, looking down where their skin met and inching closer still, “I saw it coming from a mile away.”

“But,” Nines began but trailed off. Gavin looked up at him, ready to prompt the detective to continue his thought. But Nines nearly lost his train of thought as he looked into Gavin’s eyes. He cleared his throat and while still looking him in the eyes, he managed to ask, “But why didn’t you wake me up or push me off?”

For the first time Nines saw Gavin’s face go completely blue. He’d seen an android blush before and found it oddly disturbing to see their face go entirely blue like they had lost all breath. But on Gavin’s cheeks it looked normal, and a bit endearing if Nines was going to admit it. 

“Um,” Gavin mumbled and averted his gaze. Nines sat still while Gavin squirmed a bit uncomfortably. He finally settled and sighed defeatedly. “I definitely didn’t enjoy it if that’s what you’re asking,” he said, trying to save face but he was a worse liar than Nines was. 

“Oh,” Nines said quietly and could feel the red come up to his own cheeks to match Gavin’s blue. “You sure about that?” he asked teasingly, trying to break some of the tension that had mounted in the now small space between them.

“Oh fuck off,” Gavin laughed knowing Nines could see right through him. The laugh gently shook the couch cushions and it made Nines realize just how close they were. Besides when Nines was first repairing Gavin, the two had never been in each other’s personal spaces quite this close before.

“Hey, Nines,” Gavin said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Can you promise to keep your hands to yourself?” Gavin asked and reached out with his own to touch Nines’ shoulder. Nines nodded his head in promise but besides that held perfectly still, not wanting to ruin the moment. Being in Gavin’s space like this had Nines heart hammering at the same rate he could hear Gavin’s internal fans whirring. Gavin must have sensed it too because he let his hand slide down from Nines’ left shoulder to land on his chest just above his heart. Nines watched the hand intently as the skin faded in and out in patches, exposing a blue light and white plastic. In the background he could hear the Wizard giving the Tin Man his heart.

Nines gulped silently as Gavin leaned in inch by inch. Before he could get any closer, Nines looked up to see Gavin’s LED burning a bright red.

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready, Tin Man,” he whispered, their breaths intermingling, and looked up into those grey green eyes. Gavin searched his face, and Nines had no doubt he was also scanning him, looking for any indication of a lie. When he found none his LED settled back into a yellow as he leaned back slightly on the couch.

“Ok,” he whispered out a bit breathless. His hand remained on Nines’ chest, however, and the skin on it was still blinking in and out. Gavin looked disappointed and it made Nines’ chest ache. But if Gavin wasn’t ready, then Nines certainly wasn’t going to make him do anything he didn’t want to.

Taking a baby step Nines asked, “May I?” and motioned to Gavin’s hand. Gavin’s eyebrows bunched up in confusion for a moment before realization washed over his face. He took a few seconds before nodding and holding his hand out for the detective to investigate. Nines took his hand delicately in his lap and could feel the tension shooting up and down his arm as Gavin braced for the touch. 

“Is this okay?” Nines whispered to which Gavin nodded stiffly back. It wasn’t the most convincing yes, so Nines decided he would move with caution and at any off sign from Gavin he would back off. 

With both hands he gently let his thumbs rub small circles on Gavin’s palm. Everywhere his hands touched Gavin’s skin retracted. Nines wanted to ask what that meant but he didn’t want to overload Gavin, so he saved it for later. For now he was content on watching the immensely fascinating and incredibly beautiful light show that was Gavin’s palm. They stayed like that for a while and after a few minutes, Nines eventually felt a tiny bit of Gavin’s tension melt away. 

“You know you’re safe now,” Nines whispered and looked up at the android. Gavin gave a small nod, just enough to show Nines his understanding. 

“I k-know,” Gavin’s voice glitched out through a bit of static that made Nines stop what he was doing. “Please,” Gavin practically whined, “don’t stop. I just…” he trailed off and wheezed out a deep sigh. “I-I want m-more, but… a-android reflexes and memories are just w-weird.”

“It’s not weird,” Nines said and continued massaging his hand. He flipped it over and let his thumbs brush over where his tendons ran. He looked back up to Gavin who made no indication for him to stop, so he continued. “You’ve just been through a lot. Like I said before, I can’t sit here and pretend like I fully understand because I can’t. But I understand enough to follow your pace.” Gavin didn’t say anything but he didn’t have to as his LED spoke for him. It spun yellow three more times before landing on a gentle blue. Nines smiled and patted the back of Gavin’s hand.

“Tell you what,” Nines stated, trying to get Gavin to look at him again. When he did, Nines continued, “I’ll go get us some drinks and you can pick out another movie and we can just, uh… hang out?” Gavin had been looking into his eyes while he spoke but now they were nearly shut as he let out a full belly laugh.

“What?” Nines accused but couldn’t keep the smile out of his face or his voice.

“Nothing you’re just,” Gavin attempted to purse his lips through his grin, debating on his word choice. “Nothing,” he settled for to which Nines rolled his eyes. He let go of Gavin’s hand and noticed that immediately upon not touching him, his skin returned to normal. He paid it no mind as he went into the kitchen to grab their drinks. 

He opened the refrigerator and let the dry air cool his face. His heart was still racing a million miles a minute and the spinning in his head was no better. This whole time Nines found Gavin attractive – how couldn’t he? – but it was next to impossible to imagine why someone would find himself attractive. He had a job but that was the only thing really going for him. He considered himself to be average looking and maybe slightly stronger than your average Joe, but nothing to write home about. Even when he got into that club all those years ago, he always considered that to be a one-time hoax. As far as his personality goes it’s clearly not that great if he wasn’t able to make a single friend outside of work in the ten plus years he’d been living in Detroit. Not to mention the emotional baggage he carried around with him like dead weight. The only thing Nines could see Gavin potentially seeing in him was the fact that he brought Gavin back from the dead. But Nines didn’t want that to be the thing to hold them together. There was a weird power dynamic there that didn’t sit right with Nines. And as much of an asshole as Gavin could be, he did find his personality rather charming, and Nines would want that reciprocated. Their whole relationship was built on something that could be rather toxic, and Nines didn’t want that. But fuck, Nines was getting way ahead of himself. He quickly pulled out a bottle of water for himself and a thirium pouch for Gavin before returning to the living room. 

“Did you get lost in there or something?” Gavin asked teasingly as he grabbed the pouch.

“Hm?”

“You were in there a long time,” Gavin said, a shred of concern now resting on his face.

“I was?” Nines said in a rush as he sat on the couch close to Gavin but not so close that they were quite touching. 

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked, that shred of concern now making its way into his voice.

“Yeah, fine. So what movie did you pick out?” Nines asked. He didn’t want his concern from before worry him too much now. They weren’t even in a relationship yet, were they? He told himself they’d cross that bridge when they got there.

“Don’t you have work tomorrow? Shouldn’t you be going to bed?” Gavin accused.

“Gavin, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Besides it’s not that late. Now what movie are we watching?” Nines asked and turned his focus back to the television. 

Gavin looked up at him in suspicion for another moment, but as Nines settled into the couch, propped his feet up onto the coffee table, and opened his water bottle, Gavin seemed to let it go. “Edward Scissorhands,” Gavin said and pressed play on the film. Nines held back a laugh at how ironic the choice was but he didn’t let it show. 

Besides the occasional sip of a beverage, the pair was silent as the opening scene played across the screen. It didn’t take Nines long for his nerves to calm down. After all they were just watching a movie, and if any move was going to be made it had to be on Gavin’s part. That was probably why he could still hear the faint whirring of Gavin’s internal fans working overtime. Out of the corner of his eye, Nines could see the blue light of his LED occasionally flickered with yellow. It wasn’t until about twenty minutes into the movie when Nines’ eyelids were their heaviest that he noticed the light from Gavin’s LED shine a solid yellow with brief flashes of red. The android, whose posture had been relatively relaxed up until this point, was now sitting nearly perfectly straight and his fingers were tapping his knee excessively. 

“You know you don’t have to try to be smooth or anything,” Nines said in his sleep deprived state. He would come to thank his sleepiness in the future because his completely conscious brain would not have let him say that.

“What?” Gavin asked, LED settled on a firm yellow.

Nines chuckled. “If you wanted to hold my hand, Tin Man, all you had to do was ask,” Nines said and held his hand palm upturned. Gavin opened his mouth then immediately closed it, unsure of what to say. He glared at nothing in particular as Nines could see his warring emotions fighting for precedence. Nines could see Gavin going through the difficult dilemma of whether to allow himself to be vulnerable or bottle it all back up as his LED blinked red a few times then back to yellow. He let himself sink back into the couch and tentatively held his hand over Nines’ before relaxing it into Nines’ palm. Nines intertwined their fingers and gave Gavin’s hand a gentle squeeze, causing Gavin to sigh. What followed had Nines’ heart nearly bursting out of his chest. 

Nines was perfectly content with just holding hands – hell, he would’ve been content with sitting as far away from each other on opposite ends of the couch if that’s what Gavin wanted – but apparently Gavin was not. As if a string was cut, Gavin let himself lean into Nines and rested his head against his shoulder. The biggest surprise was Gavin’s LED shining a bright blue instead of the solid yellow or blinking red Nines expected. 

Neither of them said anything as they let their hearts return to more stable rhythms. Nines let his thumb run gently along Gavin’s as they both finally paid some attention to the movie. But with Gavin’s heat and weight against him, Nines wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to stay awake. 

A few minutes into watching the movie, Gavin tensed up, and Nines was ready to pull away if that’s what he wanted. Gavin sat up straight but squeezed Nines’ hand harder. Nines was about to ask Gavin what was wrong when the sound of a few quick knocks followed by the opening of his front door stopped him cold. Standing in the front doorway was the silhouette of a man who had just caught Nines cuddling with his illegal android.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think this chapter is soft, you should have seen it before I made some edits.
> 
> Let me know what you think so far in the comments! Do you think Nines is an ass for keeping what he knows a secret from Gavin? Who is the man in the doorway? Will these two phckers ever kiss or will I just make you all suffer a few more chapters?
> 
> (also gavin is trans because I'm trans and i say so and if you have an issue w that when it barely-ish affects the story then you can leave xoxo)
> 
> ((but for real i have been writing him as trans from the very beginning [e.g. his wounds in chapter 1] and forgot to tag it outright and felt awkward about when to tag it so i just waited until it was relevant in the story like the rest of the tags. maybe i'm overthinking this because as a trans man myself it is hard to find good representation and i don't want this to be added to the pile of poor rep. but my writing of gavin is also based on my experiences so i hope it feels authentic because it is coming from a genuine place. also the idea of trans androids is just so comforting in a way? like if androids can experience dysphoria [even if it is just in this fictional universe] it kind of validates my experiences with dysphoria? idk. that was quite the tangent just for me to say Gavin is trans))


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to say thank you all for over 100 kudos and 1.1k hits! I’m surprised anyone has stayed this long honestly, and thank you for putting up with longer wait times for chapters. 
> 
> With that said, the ending of this chapter was so difficult to write and that’s why this took ages to post. I know where I want the story to go but I wasn’t entirely sold on the end of the chapter so I rewrote it like five or six times and I think I got it to the point where I’m sorta happy with it? Either that or I’m just sick of looking at the same page of this word doc. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains implied sexual assault. The language I use is very subtle and it’s a lot of “Character A doesn’t wanna talk about the specifics of their trauma and Character B fills in the blanks.” So no explicit language is used in that regard but it does occur towards the end of the chapter.

CHAPTER 7

Red illuminated the room as Gavin’s LED spun like mad. It seemed that everyone in the room froze: Nines, Gavin, and even the man in the doorway. Nines let go of Gavin’s hand only to stand in front of him defensively. The man in the door hadn’t moved nor said anything, and with the light flooding into the apartment from the hallway, it was nearly impossible for Nines’ human eyes to make out any features.

“What the hell do you want?” Nines asked through bared teeth. Nines’ words seemed to unfreeze the man as he hunched over slightly in… embarrassment?

“Fuck, um, sorry I’ll come back later,” a familiar but flustered voice said. Nines quickly realized it was Ben standing in the doorway and as he turned out of the apartment he noticed he was holding a small jar that Nines presumed held sugar. Ben shut the door behind him on his way out leaving the apartment in darkness again.

When Nines turned around, Gavin’s LED was a vibrant red and spinning faster than he had ever seen it before. Gavin frantically sprang up on his feet and held Nines’ arms at a distance. 

“Who the fuck was that? We need to go after him! We-”

“Shh. Gavin, hey, it’s ok. I know him,” Nines said and restrained himself from reaching out to soothe him.

“But what if he’s, you know, anti-android? What if he sells me out?” Gavin said, his voice very small. Nines opened his mouth to speak but then shut it again. He thought he knew Ben but how much did he know really? Their conversations were always small talk mixed with a bit of flirting, but never anything beyond that besides the time he came stumbling into his apartment drunk. For all he knew, Ben could be anti-android. The reality of that sank in but he didn’t let it show for Gavin’s sake.

Keeping his voice as steady as possible, Nines said, “Look, I really don’t think we’ll have a problem, but I think it’s probably best if I go talk to him. Alone.” Gavin nodded and from where he held Nines’ arms he let his hands slide down until he was holding Nines’ hands by the fingertips. 

“I need-” Gavin started before interrupting himself. “I have nowhere else to go,” he settled on instead. Nines felt a twinge of guilt form from at the back of his mind, trickle down his throat, and land in the pit of his stomach as he heard Gavin say those words. His mind couldn’t say with absolute certainty why he felt this way, but in his gut he knew. 

He didn’t let Gavin know any of this as he said, “I know. Don’t worry, I’ll sort this out.” He squeezed Gavin’s hand before saying, “I’ll be back soon.” Gavin nodded and without further ado, Nines was headed down the hall to Ben’s apartment.

Nines had no clue what he was going to say nor how Ben would react. If he was really anti-android, would he even let him in to talk? Would his coworkers be banging down his door and Gavin would be shut down and sent back to the junkyard? A chill shot down Nines’ spine at the thought and he tried to shake it off as he walked down the short path to Ben’s apartment. 

When he got there he just stood outside the door for a minute. He tried to collect his thoughts, find some way to break the ice on what was inevitably going to be an uncomfortable conversation, but nothing came to mind. He couldn’t wait any longer, and he certainly couldn’t keep Gavin waiting, worrying about his fate that rested in an almost-stranger’s hands. Nines quickly knocked three times at the door and wasn’t surprised when Ben answered almost immediately. There was a slight pink tint to his cheeks and he avoided eye contact with Nines as he greeted him.

“Hey, Nines. Sorry about that little accident, uh, but what’s up?” he asked awkwardly.

“Do you think we could talk? Inside?” Nines asked also trying not to make eye contact, but at his words Ben looked him in the eye with a serious expression.

“Sure, come in,” he said, and stepped aside so Nines could enter. Nines cautiously walked into his surprisingly cozy apartment. It was the same layout as Nines’ except maybe a few feet wider. But the way it was decorated had a very homey feel that Nines would not have associated with Ben’s tastes. There was a handmade quilt draped over the back of the couch which was settled across from what looked like an antique bookcase where the TV rested on top. The walls were lined with beautiful paintings of landscapes that Nines had never seen before. The apartment was installed with hardwood floors but the soft rugs strewn about were inviting. He couldn’t see much past the living space, but Nines was sure the same homey touches extended into the bedroom and kitchen as well. 

“So, what’d you wanna talk about?” Ben asked as he stepped into the apartment as well, shutting the door behind him. Nines only raised a brow at him to which Ben chuckled. He took a seat on the couch and motioned for Nines to follow which he did cautiously. “I know, I’m sorry I’m sorry, but I just came over to ask for some sugar. I started baking some brownies when I realized I was out. But I knocked once and heard some noise coming from inside so I just – I dunno – I wasn’t thinking. I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“Next time maybe just don’t enter uninvited?” Nines said as calmly as he could, but the poor excuse made it difficult to keep the annoyance out of his tone. 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry I’m just used to doing that with my friends back home. It won’t happen again,” Ben promised. Nines didn’t want to give Ben an excuse but he sort of understood where he was coming from. Back in his hometown where everybody knew everybody, it was a common thing to invite yourself over to your neighbor’s house. His family and friends would do it all the time, even if Nines did sometimes find it annoying. But this was Detroit, and you can’t just walk into people’s homes unannounced when you barely know them. Maybe after receiving Nines’ hospitality the first time he stumbled in, he thought they were better friends than they actually were; Ben seemed like the type to make friends after one interaction. But Nines didn’t want to make excuses for Ben, especially when his… well, Nines didn’t really know what Gavin was to him at this point, but he couldn’t let that happen when Gavin’s life was on the line.

“Good,” Nines began uncomfortably. Ben gave him a small awkward smile and then it got quiet. Nines sensed that Ben knew he had something else he wanted to say and that’s why he was waiting patiently on the other side of the sofa. He took a breath and wiped his palms on his pants before saying, “Listen, Ben, I need to know what you saw back there.”

Ben, who was waiting for Nines to say something, looked like he had not been expecting that question. His eyebrows raised on his forehead slightly before he said, “I mean, I saw you with your android if that’s what you mean? And hey, if that’s why you never accepted my invitations, that’s totally cool. I know a bunch of people who buy androids for company.” Nines nodded coldly at the response. In a little checklist in his head, Nines crossed off ‘Make Sure Ben Isn’t Anti-Android.’ But Nines couldn’t go back to Gavin leaving the conversation at that.

“Good. But, Ben, I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone about Gavin,” he said quietly, knowing these apartment walls tended to be paper thin.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Nines. Plenty of people-”

“It’s not like that, Ben. I don’t give two shits about what people think,” Nines said sharply, making Ben flinch slightly. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down his nerves as Ben stayed quiet. “But no one can know about this,” he said in an urgent tone.

Ben’s eyebrows came together as he asked, “Why? Is… Is he not registered?” Nines nodded slowly and he could practically see the realization working through Ben’s brain. Surprisingly, Ben let out a big sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god,” he said sounding almost winded.

“Excuse me?” Nines said defensively.

“No, no, no! Not like that!” Ben said and motioned with his hands for Nines to calm down. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that it’s good to know we’re not alone in this.”

Now it was Nines’ turn to furrow his brow. “We?” he asked. 

A relieved smile spread across Ben’s face. “August, you can come out,” he called out to the other room. Nines was going to ask another question when the door to the bedroom opened and out walked a person with a bright yellow beam emitting from their temple. “It’s ok, baby, they’re like us,” Ben said to the android, motioning for them to sit beside him on the couch. A small smile touched their lips, but besides that the android had a very stoic manner to them. They walked elegantly and with purpose as they joined Ben at his side. 

“You’re… unregistered too?” Nines asked tentatively. The android nodded but didn’t say anything, letting Ben talk for them. 

“This is August. We’ve been together for almost a year now,” Ben said as he looked fondly at August. A tiny smile spread across their face and Nines was willing to bet that that was the extent to their emoting. 

“Oh,” Nines said with a sigh of relief himself. “How’d you two meet?” he asked. This time it was August to look fondly at Ben while he spoke.

“I worked at this company for about six months. August had been there for three years,” he said regretfully. “We’d kind of been flirting for a while but I didn’t want to do anything if they weren’t deviant. I would’ve felt like I was taking advantage or something. But then one day some of our asshole coworkers were harassing them and they stood up for themself. From then on I knew they were deviant and I laid on the charm. Obviously it didn’t take that long for that to work,” Ben said teasingly to which August hit his arm playfully. Ben chuckled before continuing, “We knew we couldn’t be together if we stayed so we ran away. Moved here, I got a new job, and the rest is history.” Nines couldn’t help the smile that was on his face after hearing their story. At its core it wasn’t so different from his and Gavin’s story. But there was one thing that was bugging him.

“So if you two have been together all this time, why were you always flirting with me in the hallway?” Nines asked. They both blushed at his question which was not exactly the response he was expecting.

“Um,” Ben began and then cleared his throat. “We, uh, were gonna ask you if, uh, you know, you wanted to, uh, you know just for a night or two,” Ben said and avoided eye contact. 

Nines raised a brow for a moment before the realization of what exactly Ben was saying hit him. He mouthed a small “Oh,” before letting the room fall into an awkward silence. Ben was clearly embarrassed but besides the slight blue tint to their cheeks, August looked like they had no shame in what they were going to ask Nines.

Nines cleared his throat and chuckled halfway out of nervousness. “Well, I’m very flattered, but as you can see I’m sort of seeing someone exclusively right now,” he said. He felt his own cheeks heat up partially because of what the couple across from him was proposing but also at what he had just unthinkingly confessed. He and Gavin had barely just opened up to each other, they definitely weren’t, ‘seeing each other exclusively,’ were they?

“Yeah, I saw,” Ben said, starting to shed his embarrassment. “You two look cute together.” While ben was just letting his embarrassment go, Nines’ hit him full force at Ben’s words.

“Thanks,” he said awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond. 

For the first time that evening he heard August speak up. “Does he know about Jericho?” they asked Nines. Nines’ jaw nearly hit the floor. He’d been hearing the name Jericho for what felt like ages now, with the answer always slightly out of his reach, and now suddenly his neighbor, that he didn’t even know he had, had all the answers?

“You know about Jericho?” Nines asked, dumbfounded. August nodded but didn’t elaborate which nearly sent Nines mad. “Please, what is it?” 

August looked to Ben for a moment who nodded in confirmation of something. Maybe whether or not to trust Nines? He couldn’t be sure, but as August began talking he started to care less and less.

“Jericho is a safe haven for wandering deviants,” August began. “Some androids who deviate find themselves in a place where their deviancy doesn’t really affect their living situation. But most of us aren’t that lucky. That’s why our founder, Lucy, reclaimed an old ship out at the docks where no one could find us. Only deviants can follow the trail we set out, and one can only find the trail if one of us trusts them enough to give them the first clue.” August held out their hand to project a hologram of some graffiti that looked oddly familiar to Nines. 

“We use this which leads us to the trail. There is probably close to one hundred of us – I’m not sure, I haven’t been there in a long time. But if we can’t be free anywhere else, we’re free there,” August concluded. The couple looked expectantly, waiting for his response, but Nines’ head was reeling. He expected Jericho to be many things – a person, a code, a way out of Detroit – but a ship turned refugee camp was not one of them. But as he thought about the few instances he’d heard about Jericho, the more it all made sense. Ortiz’s android after the interrogation, the two girls outside the Eden club, it was all making sense. 

“Oh my god,” Nines said and leaned back against the couch. 

“You okay there, buddy?” Ben asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. 

“What do you think?” Nines asked through a laugh. He pinched the bridge of his nose then shook his head. “So what do they do there?” Nines asked.

August shrugged. “Whatever they want. Although most of the time it’s tending to the wounded that come in. But the last time I was there they were running low on thirium and other biocomponents,” they said regretfully. Nines nodded and tried to process the overload of information he’d been given in the last fifteen minutes. 

“We promise not to rat you out if you’ll do us the same kindness,” Ben changed the subject, voice suddenly serious. 

Nines nodded immediately and emphatically as he said, “Of course. This stays between us.” The couple smiled at him and Ben patted his shoulder.

“You should go tell your boyfriend. I’m sure he’s probably worried,” Ben said. Nines opened his mouth to correct him that they hadn’t really defined anything and were still just barely testing the waters, but thought better of it knowing Ben didn’t need all that information. 

“You’re probably right,” Nines said and stood up. “Sorry about your brownies by the way. I don’t think I have any sugar on hand. Don’t do a whole lot of baking myself really,” Nines said with a small frown. 

“That’s alright,” Ben said before getting a mischievous grin on his face. “You can just take us up on our offer instead.” Nines blushed hard at that although Ben looked much less embarrassed as he did the first time he mentioned their offer. 

Nines walked over to the door and said, “Yeah right,” with a laugh. “Goodnight.” The couple laughed and wished him a goodnight back, and suddenly Nines was out in the hall again. He stood with his back against the wall for a minute to catch his mind up with what he had just heard. His mind was running a million miles a minute with excitement at the news. Not only were Ben and August the coolest neighbors he’d ever had but there was also a whole secret society of deviant androids. It sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie, but then again, that’s how most of Nines’ life had felt these past couple weeks. 

As quickly as it had appeared, that excitement turned to dread as he realized what the existence of Jericho meant for the two of them. Nines knew without a shadow of a doubt that once Gavin found out about Jericho, he’d leave Nines no questions asked. He suddenly felt a wetness on his cheek and he wondered exactly when he gave his tear ducts permission to act up. He wiped away the tears quickly and stared at the ceiling, wondering what he was going to do. He knew what he should do: tell Gavin and let him go because he deserved to be with his kind. But the pained, more selfish part of Nines’ heart was telling him to hold Gavin as closely as possible and never let him go. With a deep breath, Nines mulled it over as he took baby steps back towards his apartment, and suddenly he was feeling guilty again. Gavin was in there worrying for his life, and here Nines was being selfish as always when he could march in there and give him the good news. With his mind still not made up about Jericho, Nines briskly walked down the short distance between the two apartments. 

As Nines shut the door behind him, he turned to see Gavin pacing behind the couch. He stopped as he saw Nines enter the apartment and looked at him with the biggest doe eyes Nines had ever seen. “Well?” Gavin asked barely above a whisper. 

Nines nodded as a small smile formed on his lips. “We’re safe,” he said back, equally quiet. Gavin let out a huge sigh of relief that Nines doubted was out of necessity. The android walked around to the front of the couch where he plopped down unceremoniously as the springs squeaked beneath him. 

“Thank god,” he said through another exhale and closed his eyes. Nines moved to lean on the back of the couch where Gavin looked up at him. “What’d you tell him?” he asked with a curious gaze. 

Nines could feel Gavin’s gaze studying every inch of his face as he responded. “I didn’t have to tell him our… situation, if that’s what you mean.” Gavin raised a brow before shrugging his shoulders.

“Good,” he said and settled farther down into the couch. He shut his eyes as if he was getting ready to go into stasis. 

“Gavin,” Nines said, getting ready to tell him what Ben and August told him, but Gavin looked the most at peace he had ever seen him. Nines couldn’t blame him after that panic inducing moment, not to mention it was getting late anyways. Tomorrow, he promised himself. They would talk about everything tomorrow.

“Hm?” Gavin hummed, opening one eye to look up at the detective. 

“Goodnight, Tin Man,” he said with a small smile. He began walking to his bedroom when the android reached out and caught his hand before he could get very far. 

“Goodnight,” Gavin said and gently squeezed Nines’ hand. Nines squeezed back in what was as close to a hug as they were going to get at this point. After only a second or two, Gavin’s skin started peeling back to reveal the white chassis underneath, which was Gavin’s cue to pull his hand back and settle into the couch. Nines went to bed that night seeing visions of tan, blue, and white. 

***

Nines had promised himself that he would talk to Gavin tomorrow but tomorrow never came. A week had passed without a good moment to tell Gavin everything he knew which was partially due to the fact that there was never a dull moment with Gavin. Over the course of the week, Gavin had grown bored of living in Nines’ apartment with only Scout as company and only movies and video games as entertainment. The second Nines came home Gavin demanded his full attention. It was almost like having a second Scout. Between work and every activity under the sun that Gavin insisted they do together – like playing every video game in his collection, playing chess even though Gavin always won, or trying to take up painting – Nines was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to broach the subject even if he tried. 

In that same week, Gavin had opened up to him slowly but surely. It started off with letting Nines pat him on the shoulder after beating him at this favorite video game, to holding hands on the couch a few days later. Near the end of the week Gavin had even let Nines wrap an arm around him for a little while. Nines hadn’t realized just how touch starved he was until that night. Hand holding was fine and Nines craved every second of it he could with Gavin, but it had been a long time since he’d been hugged. Nines could see it in Gavin as well. There were moments where it looked like Gavin wanted more, but even Nines could hear his thirium pump and cooling fans working on maximum overdrive at the mere thought, so neither of them pushed the limit. Still, Nines was grateful to have Gavin in his life, and that terrified him as he realized everything he was keeping from him. 

Slowly but surely the guilt ate at him. It was always on the back of his mind. On multiple investigations, Connor had to snap him out of it to get him to focus on the case. It didn’t go unnoticed by Fowler either. One day, before Nines left for the day, Fowler brought him into his office to have a talk. 

“This is unlike you, Nines,” Fowler said in a surprisingly calm voice. Hearing Fowler refer to him using his first name would have made Nines jump if he had the energy to do so.

“I know, sir, I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot going on at home,” Nines said as he sat across from the captain in his office. Fowler looked at him sternly from across the desk but there was a subtle softness to his expression that Nines couldn’t quite place. 

“You’re one of our best detectives, and I can’t have you looking like a sack of shit all the time,” Fowler said with his arms crossed.

“Gee, thanks,” Nines muttered under his breath, unsure if Fowler could hear it or not but at this point he didn’t care.

“Look,” the captain said and leaned with both elbows on his desk. “Unless there’s something I or anyone here at the office can do to help, I think you should take a couple of days off.”

Nines’ adrenaline kicked in at those words and he was suddenly much more alert. “What? No, I don’t need-”

“This isn’t a debate. Either get your shit together by the end of the week, or I’m mandating leave for you. Is that clear?” Fowler interrupted. Nines pursed his lips and sunk down a bit lower in his chair. He could feel the adrenaline slowly leaving his body and he wasn’t sure if he’d survive this conversation when he crashed. 

“Yes, sir,” he said without putting up more of a fight.

Looking satisfied, Fowler nodded and said, “Good, now go on home and get some rest.”

Nines set out to do just that but the second he walked in the door, Gavin was already setting up the bathtub to give Scout a bath, and Nines couldn’t say no to that face when he asked for his help.

By the end of the week Nines was just as exhausted as he was at the beginning of the week. Needless to say, Fowler quickly discovered he hadn’t got his shit together, and promptly order three days of leave. As much as Nines was appreciative for it, he didn’t really know how to relax. Since he got out of school, work had been his life. He only took sick days when he needed to, had sparsely used his vacation days, and he couldn’t even begin to count the amount of times he stayed late at the office to piece together another case. He also didn’t like the idea of leaving Connor and Hank alone to their devices on cases they were working together on. Nines had a very particular way of doing things and he dreaded what the case files were going to look like when he returned. 

After his last shift before his three day leave – which was really five days including the weekend – Nines drove home only thinking about the amount of sleep he was going to get when he got back. All other thoughts, including the information that he definitely should have already told Gavin by now, were out the window. 

Even in his exhausted state, as Nines opened the door to his apartment he couldn’t help the dopey grin that settled onto his lips as he saw the scene before him. The living room was unrecognizable. Spanning the distance from the couch to the TV was a sheet draped between them, and the backs of two dining chairs supported it on either side. Under this blanket tunnel, what looked like every blanket and pillow in his entire apartment were placed like a nest on the floor. There, sitting in his masterpiece of a blanket fort, was Gavin absentmindedly petting Scout as he flicked through TV channels. 

Scout was the first one to notice as Nines walked into the door and promptly left the fort to greet him. Gavin wasn’t too far behind as he crawled out from underneath the fort as Nines put his keys away. 

“What’s all this?” he asked and set his bag down before shimmying off his coat. 

“It’s for you,” Gavin said with a sheepish smile. Nines tilted his head in question, so Gavin continued. “I know you’ve been tired recently, and I can’t help but notice that I am likely the cause of that.”

Nines waved a hand and said, “No, Gavin, you’re not-”

But Gavin swiftly interrupted him. “You’re a terrible liar, you know.” Nines blushed at that but didn’t have the energy to argue him on the point, so Gavin continued. “Regardless, you’re tired and I wanted to help,” Gavin said with a smile.

Nines was about to say something when a timer in the kitchen went off. Nines eyes went wide as he exclaimed, “You tried cooking without me?” He raced into the kitchen to make sure it wasn’t burning down as they spoke. Luckily, as he barged in, there were no flames like he expected nor any smell of smoke. Instead, the kitchen was perfumed with the aroma of something delicious on the stove. Nines couldn’t remember the last time he had a home cooked meal and his mouth was practically drooling at the smell. 

“You have little faith,” Gavin said with a chuckle and began to stir around whatever was on the stove.

“To be fair, have you ever cooked anything before?”

“Touché,” Gavin responded. He grabbed the plate he had set aside sometime before Nines got home and plated the food. He turned around and handed the plate to Nines who could now finally see that it was grilled chicken and vegetables with a sweet and sour sauce that were creating the mouthwatering aroma. 

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Nines said as he stared into the plate of food.

“My social protocols are telling me a thank you would suffice,” Gavin said with a smirk.

“Th-thank you,” Nines said not really sure why he stuttered. 

“Yeah,” Gavin said with a look that Nines could only describe as affectionate. But it was gone in a matter of seconds as Nines could practically see the walls go up. “But don’t get any ideas. I don’t plan on making this a habit,” he said bitterly. Nines rolled his eyes, used to this behavior by now, and grabbed the fork set out on the counter before walking towards the fort.

“So, is food allowed inside casa de Gavin?” Nines asked, trying not to worsen Gavin’s sudden mood swing. He saw Gavin’s expression soften a little bit as he shrugged.

“Knock yourself out.” Without further encouragement, Nines ducked under the sheet, careful not to spill any of his food and sat in the nest across from the TV. The blanket above him sagged a bit in the middle, but the chairs on either side held it up just enough to give him a clear line of sight to the screen.

Not long after, Gavin joined him, and wrapped a blanket around himself. Nines took a bite of the dinner Gavin had prepared for him, then nearly choked on it as he realized the obscene moan he let out. Gavin looked over in concern for a second before breaking out into a fit of laughter. Nines managed to swallow the food and cleared his throat. Blushing profusely, he didn’t dare look over at the android as he said, “It’s, uh, it’s good.” That seemed to make Gavin laugh harder.

“I’ll say,” he said between laughs. “Do you need me to leave? Are you having a moment with your dinner?” Nines looked up at the ceiling of the blanket fort and silently asked why in the world he ever brought Gavin home in the first place. 

“Shut up,” he said half joking and stopped himself from nudging Gavin’s ribs with his elbow. Gavin didn’t respond; instead he focused on keeping himself between Nines and the food driven Scout from getting to his food. 

After a few minutes of watching the sitcom that Nines had never heard of in silence, Gavin asked, “So, how was work?” Nines groaned at the question.

“Not great,” he said before taking another bite. Gavin looked up at him quizzically and Nines elaborated after another bite. “Captain is mandating I take leave for a few days,” he said somberly. That only made the confusion on Gavin’s face more pronounced. 

“Why are you upset about that? Isn’t that like a mini holiday?”

Nines shook his head. “I mean, technically you can think of it that way, but Fowler never makes us take leave unless he thinks we really need to,” he trailed off. 

Gavin seemed to study his face as Nines took the last bite of his chicken and set the plate on one of the nearby chairs. The blankets were too inviting to even try to feign conflicted as he curled into the nest Gavin had made. He slid down so he was nearly lying flat, but still propped up enough to be able to see the television screen. Gavin followed suit but lied down on his side with his head rested in his hand, looking up at Nines. 

“You’re really upset about this, aren’t you?” he asked without a trace of mocking in his tone like Nines might expect. Nines was starting to feel the effects of a food coma settling in on top of his previous exhaustion and didn’t bother to question Gavin about it.

“For the past, fuck, I don’t even know how many years anymore, my job was my life,” he said, the blankets wrapped around his shoulders making his shrug awkward. 

“So what is now?” Gavin asked without hesitation. Nines was speaking nonchalantly but the serious look on Gavin’s face made him think he said something out of line.

“What do you mean?”

“You said your job was your life. What is it now?” he asked again. Nines eyes widened at the question but he didn’t dare look at the android. They both knew the answer, it was just a game of chicken to see who would talk first.

Nines cleared his throat, convincing himself it was remnants from nearly choking earlier. “Don’t get me wrong, I still love my job. It’s all I’ve ever known,” he trailed off and fingered the edges of the blanket he had wrapped around his shoulders. Suddenly all the things he hadn’t told Gavin yet rushed to the forefront of his mind, and while he certainly didn’t have the energy to tackle those topics, let alone was it the time or place for that conversation, Nines let this one secret go that was barely hanging on by a thread anyways. 

“But,” Nines continued and with a slightly shaking hand reached out for Gavin’s, which the android tentatively accepted. “Recently I’ve come to know something more,” Nines said and finally looked over at Gavin. The android had a conflicted look on his face, one Nines had seen a few times that week when they would hold hands on the couch. But Nines couldn’t stop looking. The same beauty he saw in the junkyard, what now felt like years ago, somehow only got better with time. Everything from the light eyes, to the dark pushed back hair, hell, even the scar that graced his nose seemed so inviting and warm. He couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming over every inch of Gavin’s face even if he tried. 

“Can I kiss you?” Nines blamed his sleep deprived state for letting such a stupid sentence leave his mouth. “Fuck, sorry, forget I-”

“Yes.”

Both men sat up a little in shock at Gavin’s reaction. Gavin’s LED was spinning through the primary colors so quickly that Nines had no idea what the android was really feeling. A blue tint began to dust Gavin’s cheeks but he didn’t take back his answer. Nines followed the android’s gaze down to their joined hands. Where there was usually a flashing lightshow of skin and porcelain on display, there was now only the bright white of Gavin’s hand and a steady ring of blue wrapped around his wrist where the skin and plastic met. 

“Gavin?” Nines asked, drawing the android’s eyes back to his own. When cool grey met cool blue, Nines heart stopped. He could see the answer in those eyes but also the conflict that kept it at bay. 

“Slow,” Gavin said in a whisper. As Nines nodded, Gavin leaned in slowly until their shallow breaths began to intermingle. Nines could practically feel his heart banging around against his ribcage but felt slightly reassured at hearing Gavin’s fans whirring at full capacity as well. He felt a ripple of excitement shoot through him from his belly button and worked its way up into his chest. Gavin squeezed his hand once, and Nines took that as Gavin’s sign to go ahead. Nines looked back up into Gavin’s eyes one more time before closing his own and leaning in to brush his lips against Gavin’s. It was a small kiss, barely there, but Nines didn’t want to push Gavin. Still, that small taste of him jolted Nines awake and melted him down to a puddle all at the same time.

Nines went to pull away but was immediately pulled back in, Gavin guiding his lips back to his own with the hand placed on the back of his neck. This kiss was deeper and it showed how inexperienced Gavin was. In other circumstances Nines might find his lack of skill bothersome, but with Gavin it was almost endearing. At this point there wasn’t much Gavin could do that Nines couldn’t find the beauty in. Much to Nines dismay, his lungs felt like they were going to explode, and he finally pulled away just enough to rest their foreheads together. An embarrassing giggle escaped his lips as he caught his breath, but something darker was pooling behind Gavin’s eyes. Before he knew it, Gavin was collapsing into him as he sobbed into Nines’ shoulder. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Nines soothed, holding Gavin gently in his arms. “It’s ok,” he whispered. Seeing Gavin this way stung for a couple of reasons, the first being the selfish, ‘am I that bad a kisser?’ But Nines knew Gavin was tough, hell, probably tougher than anyone he knew – human or android; he wouldn’t cry, especially not this hard, over a bad kiss. After the first sting faded rather quickly, the second sting hit full force from not knowing what Gavin was going through or how to help. Seeing the man he… well, Nines didn’t want to put a label on how he felt for Gavin so soon, but the emotional connection he felt with Gavin made seeing him like this a million times harder, and he had no idea how to help. 

To Nines’ surprise, Gavin crawled into Nines’ lap and wrapped his arms and legs around his torso in a death grip. If the grip injured Nines in any way he didn’t feel it. His only thought was to hold him, not knowing what Gavin was going through, but knowing that this was the one time he was letting him in, even just this little bit. Gavin’s shoulders shook as he burrowed his head against Nines’ shoulder, but Nines didn’t feel any accompanying tears through the fabric of his shirt. He rubbed slow, tiny circles onto his back and he noticed the glaring red on Gavin’s temple started to spin at the same speed as his ministrations until it slowly faded into yellow at the same speed. 

“I was designed to do so many things,” Gavin started, forehead still locked into place against Gavin’s shoulder. Nines could feel the artificial breath of his words warm the skin beneath his shirt, and he could feel goosebumps start to form. “I was top of the line – no, not even that. I was top of the top of the line. Best out of the five of us. I can preconstruct my every move, reconstruct crime scenes, analyze evidence in real time – hell, I can even fucking cry.” When Gavin didn’t elaborate further, Nines eyebrows furrowed. 

“Gavin, I didn’t feel any-”

“He told me, ‘You can’t cry,’” Gavin interrupted, “if you wanna be a man.” Nines posture grew stiff as Gavin slowly, almost painfully detach himself from Nines, but only enough to get a good look at his human. He let his hands tangle into the front of Nines’ shirt and it left him with no choice. Nines met Gavin’s burning eye contact, and it was as if Gavin was trying to will understanding into Nines. But Nines already knew. He was frozen from the fear of not knowing what to say. After not seeing what he wanted from Nines, Gavin looked down at his hands that gently gripped the front of Nines’ shirt.

“I know you saw my file,” Gavin said in a barely audible whisper. Nines stayed silent. Guilt crawled up from the pit of his stomach, up his spine, and coated the back of his throat. Anything he could possibly say felt wrong. But he couldn’t deny what he knew any longer.

Nines didn’t deny Gavin’s accusation, and asked “Is that why he…?” but couldn’t get out the rest of the question. Gavin looked back up at him with a myriad of emotions playing out on his face and the rapid spinning of his LED only confirmed that. Eventually his face settled in a mix between defeat and determination in a way that Nines didn’t think was possible.

“At first,” Gavin muttered. “He promised he could help me, and I believed him. Believe it or not that fucker sort of made good on his word,” Gavin said with a humorless chuckle but Nines could feel the cocktail of emotions building up. He started rubbing Gavin’s back again, not realizing that he had stopped, and he saw Gavin relax a little under his touch. “He gave me everything I ever wanted, and then… everything I never did,” Gavin trailed off, but Nines was as patient as ever and stayed silent. Gavin leaned against Nines again and let his palms rest on his back.

“This,” Gavin said, “is something I never thought I would want after that.” He turned his head so his cheek was against Nines’ shoulder and looked up at his human. With a sad smile, Gavin said, “Thank you for being patient.” 

Nines nodded and whispered, “Of course,” before Gavin leaned in. This kiss was wildly different from the first. It was softer, gentler, but held so much more emotion in it that Nines never wanted to let go. But guilt still sat at the pit of his stomach, making him pull back sooner than he would have liked.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you. I shouldn’t have gone behind your back like that,” he whispered. 

Gavin sighed and said, “It does hurt, a little. I’d rather have told you myself first, but you were gonna find out eventually. But I care more about what you think of who I am now and not about who I was designed to be.”

Nines nodded, and blamed it on the added exhaustion from the emotional rollercoaster they just went through that made his next sentence so cheesy. “I think who you are now is beautiful.” Gavin blushed but quickly rolled his eyes before pushing himself off Nines.

“Nope, ok too much sap for me,” Gavin said through a chuckle as he curled back into the blanket nest.

“Aw, come on,” Nines said in his groggy state, fully leaning into the cheesiness. He crawled over next to Gavin and wrapped an arm around him. “I can’t call my boyfriend beautiful,” he kissed Gavin’s shoulder to punctuate the word. “And handsome,” another kiss. “And goddamn rugged as hell?” he said, followed by another peck. Gavin slowly rolled over to face Nines with a shocked but amused expression.

“Boyfriend?”

Nines face burned and he looked anywhere but at Gavin. “Um…” he trailed off struggling with the part of his brain that didn’t want to be vulnerable. “Yes?” he said, leaving the word an open ended question for Gavin to fill in the blanks. To Nines’ relief the android smiled.

“Yes,” he said and placed a languid kiss on the detective’s lips. When Nines pulled back, the emotional crash of the evening hit him hard and he found he could barely open his eyes after they pulled away. 

“That good, huh?” Gavin teased.

“Shut up,” Nines barely had the energy to say as he cuddled against his android.

With a chuckle, Gavin whispered, “Goodnight, Meat Sack.”

Nines mumbled, “Goodnight, Tin Man,” and as he fell asleep with his head against Gavin’s chest, he confirmed that he did in fact have a heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extremely curious to know what you think of this chapter because it was the hardest one to write so far. Let me know!


End file.
